Master of All Things – Part one – Broken Words
by Kyoto141092
Summary: A gate to everything, a door to infinite worlds, the power to alter the very fabric of reality... And it's all in the hands of a short blond teenager. What's worse? He's completely unpredictable, is addicted to ramen, and has no compunctions about using this power to do what he wants. The question is... what does he want? - Naruto/multicrossover - Naruto harem - eventual OP Naruto
1. Chapter 1

**And I'm back, yes… this is a new story I'm posting. Now before you ask… yes I'll be updating my other stories. I am close to updating Hybrid's Game, Alternate Plans, and Essence of Chaos. Hybrid's game will most likely be updated first.**

 **This has been one of the main stories I've worked on by the side so I hope you enjoy it. And yes… It's a crossover, despite the fact that I didn't place it into the crossover section. I did this mainly because there will be so many crossovers that choosing any particular one would be impossible. Or… I should say that saying exactly what the main crossover element in the story is would give everything away. There will be a lot of mystery in this fic… and it will be long… so I hope you enjoy!**

 **Additionally… Pairings will be non negotiable. Unlike most of my other stories where I'm perfectly fine adding girls to a harem or some such simply because most reviewers ask for it, this story's pairings will be set in stone from the beginning. I've put a ton of thought into the plot line for this story so please don't give me a bunch of reviews about which girl to add.**

 **Now without further ramblings. On with the story!**

 **(I don't own any part of Naruto or any other anime, books, movies, and or comics included within)**

 **Master of All Things – Part one – Broken Words**

 **Chapter 1: A Bit of Light Reading**

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

It had been raining for days. The torrential downpour could have easily been attributed to the power of a wrathful god hungry for vengeance. It started out as a light drizzle that came out of nowhere one day. The people of Konoha were pleasantly surprised by the little shower in the height of summer. It was a welcome relief from the scorching heat of an up till then dry year. But the rain didn't stop… and on the second day of the downpour it turned from a light drizzle into what the elders of the village claimed hadn't been seen in decades.

The streets were mud by the end of the third day. Some depressions in the streets became nothing more than lakes. After four days flooding was a real threat and all Shinobi out on missions were recalled to help deal with the minor crisis. The first floors of homes and business were boarded up and sealed by the on hand Genin and Chunin. Jonin were tasked with diverting water elsewhere and out of the village.

On the fifth day the Hokage announced that this was the greatest storm in fifty years. Thunder and lightning lit the sky constantly, seeming to be never ending. The rain had become a real threat to the village, washing the streets away entirely as the hard packed upper layer of the roads were turned to mud and erased. The lowest areas in the village were flooded and only the efforts of Konoha's water users kept places like the Hyuuga clan compound from becoming a lake.

Day six and it was the longest and hardest storm in living memory. The village was flooded up to four feet in most places. Travel for Shinobi was possible but civilians were restricted to moving with the aid of the ninja.

Still the storm worsened. With no end in sight and the waters threatening to undermine the foundations, the Hokage ordered a full rotation of all the ninja in the village. They were to take shifts reclaiming the village from the storm that had taken hold of the streets. Meanwhile the great barrier around the village was activated for the first time since the last Great War.

The rain stopped for the most part. It still required a week to regain the streets, but it was only the beginning. After a further two days the chakra generators keeping the village's defensive barrier up failed. The Third Hokage was forced to reapply them… but making the powerful seals by himself was time consuming.

In the three days it required to remake the seals… the village had flooded again. Outside the village, the forests were unrecognizable.

Civilians and Ninja alike no longer doubted that this was the work of the gods…. Who else could cause the skies to weep for so long? The village seemed to be in agreement. This storm was a message from Kami-sama.

But there was one person in the village that didn't care about the rain. Sitting in his apartment Naruto Uzumaki was unconcerned with the downpour outside. The blond fourteen year old was lying back on his bed, an annoyed expression fixed firmly upon his face. Where the rain caused him no discomfort… the piles upon piles of books in his usually Spartan apartment did.

Blue eyes stared out over his bed at his room… His territory had been invaded when the storm had stated to flood areas of the village. Unfortunately the library was at street level and could not be properly sealed in time. Therefore the council… or whoever was in charge of the library… had decided to relocate all the books to Naruto's apartment complex. This was mainly because the building had three floors and the top two were mostly unused.

He didn't know that of course. What he did know was that _all_ the other rooms in the apartment building were jam packed full of books and… his room had not been spared either. Fully half of his room was filled with tomes on everything from History to Science to Jutsu theory and more.

He hated books. They were plain useless things. From his experience, admittedly limited to the books at academy, they were boring. Admittedly the ones on jutsu were helpful to a ninja like him, but there were still dry and not in the least bit interesting. And he'd been stuck in his apartment with them for the last few days… His now _very_ cramped apartment he would be quick to add if asked. With all of them in stacks to the ceiling… the only free room to move was between his bed, the bathroom, and the door out into the rain. He'd already moved all his ramen into the bathtub since the refrigerator was effectively blocked off.

All in all it sucked.

What made it worse? He had nothing to do. He was a Genin with no water jutsu and no skill in Fuinjutsu. Which meant that he was of absolutely no use to the squads outside dealing with the storm. That annoyed him even more than he was willing to admit.

All he really wanted to do was get out and train. With Sasuke gone from the village he felt like he was wasting his time in a very serious way! Or… fuck that. Who was he kidding? What was he going to do if he went out and managed to train some? He didn't have anyone to teach him. Kakashi had proven that one well enough already. A whole month and he barely even did anything for him. It was always about the stupid Uchiha.

Naruto grimaced and rubbed absently at his chest where, not three weeks before, there had been a smoking hole.

Try "fucking Uchiha". Stupid Uchiha wasn't quite harsh enough to express his feelings for that prick. It didn't matter how much he cared for Sakura or Sasuke. The retard had put a Chidori through his chest, fully intending on killing him. He could go rot in hell for all he cared.

Of course he still intended on bringing Sasuke back… But Sakura never said she wanted her crush back in one piece. He'd drag Sasuke back to the village alright. With two broken legs, two broken arms, and if he could manage it… a dozen broken ribs. Maybe if he was lucky one rib would pierce his cold uncaring heart.

As if…

Naruto huffed again as his thoughts continued to churn. After the incident with Sasuke leaving the village he'd come back mortally wounded. Although that didn't keep him down for long. He recovered in record time and returned to the daily routine… That is he did until the rain started.

And now he was stuck in his apartment, fully cognizant of his own uselessness. He despised the feeling… wanted it to end. Naruto's eyes flicked from one end of the apartment to the other and back again. His eyes narrowed.

Well….

If he didn't have _anything_ else to do, then he would swallow his distaste and do a little light reading to pass the time. He wasn't usually welcome in the library so this was an opportunity that he shouldn't miss. And… if he was honest with himself… his academic scores in school sucked the big one. Maybe he could actually learn something if he spent some time reading…

With a loud, "Fuck it!" Naruto made the Ram handseal and six clones burst into existence. Having given them no orders the clones just looked at him puzzled.

"Oi, boss? What you want?"

"Guys… can't believe I'm saying this but if I don't do something I'm seriously going to die of boredom. We are going to read until the storm blows over."

The clones nodded, still looking at him as if waiting for more.

"And! Since I never do anything fifty percent, were going to read ALL the books in this room before the storm stops."

The six clones shared genuine looks of surprise and distaste. They didn't like the idea of reading any more than he did. But… they were _him_ after all. What could he expect?

"Okay boss… if you say so."

"Good, then start by putting all the books you can in the storage scrolls I got. Once you free up some room I'll make more clones to speed this up." He stood up on the bed, smirking. "Since I figured out you guys give me memories when you die… I've been thinking about all kinds of things to do with it. But since I can't train I'll use you to learn all I can!"

The cloned nodded again in unison. "If you say so boss."

Naruto jerked his head to the numerous books stacked nearly to the ceiling. "Well, get to it! One each of you reads a book I'll disperse you and take a while to absorb all the info and make another clone to replace you."

A second later the clones were in action. Naruto thought for a moment then said. "If you find a book I personally might like, toss it to me."

They didn't respond, but they didn't need to. Naruto leaned back against the wall with arms crossed. In the last month… or more precisely, in the week after he failed to bring Sasuke back, he'd learned a lot. First and foremost he learned that the Kyuubi was a bitch… Okay, maybe not literally a female dog but he really was an ass hole. After nearly dying the Kyuubi had taken him inside his mind to give him a very rare lecture.

It had completely blindsided him. The Kyuubi gave him the dressing down of his life, basically telling him that if he ever wanted to be Hokage he better start to _**"USE HIS FUCKING HEAD FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN A BATTERING RAM!"**_ The fox was pissed at him for nearly dying and took the time to tell him just how close he'd come to croaking.

 _Apparently_ his body had just finished adjusting to the fox's chakra two days before the fight with Gaara in possession mode. This meant that he had come within a hairs breadth of dying. If he'd fought Sasuke any sooner… the Kyuubi wouldn't have been able to force enough chakra into his body to heal him. So yeah… a seriously close call. So close in fact that it scared the shit out of him and… in a roundabout sort of way… made him wise up.

But that wasn't the only thing that happened. He also discovered the secret of Shadow Clones. Or well… discovered was a bad way to putting it. Hitting his head repeatedly against a wall at his own stupidity and lack of perception was what really happened. It was blatantly obvious the entire time… and he never noticed…

Oh! _and_ he was going to kill Kakashi for not taking the five seconds needed to tell him… lazy ass had it coming.

But that would have to wait until the rain let up. Until then he would have all the time in the world to… read. With that grim proposition running in his mind Naruto dropped onto his rear in bed as his clones started sorting the books into more manageable piles. It took about thirty minutes, but together they completed the task.

When it was done all the books in the room were organized by subject and interest. Subject was a broad definition. The clones only made stacks according to what looked like academics, jutsu, fiction, history, and miscellaneous. "Interest" only referred to books that the clones thought would actually be _interesting_.

A moment later there were a couple books lying on the bed, the most interesting ones of the bunch. Naruto idly noted how much extra room had been made and frowned. Then a light bulb went off above his head. "Oi! you guys pick out the books you're going to read and then stick yourselves to the ceiling to read… That will double the amount of clones that will fit in this space."

The clones shrugged and each grabbed a book before jumping upwards to land on the ceiling feet first. They stuck there using their chakra, then sat cross-legged to read.

Naruto made the proper handseal again. Nine clones appeared this time. Two grabbed books and went to the ceiling while the rest sat on the floor. A moment later they were all reading… with varying degrees of interest. Naruto sighed and grabbed the first book on the corner of his bed. He opened it and read the dedication.

- _This book is dedicated to all my fellow Shinobi who are having trouble with the fairer sex. At the request of my teammate, my sensei, my male comrades, and several people all over the village… here is the "Shinobi's Guide to Women and Other Dangerous Creatures" I hope that it will provide my readers with a good base when dealing with the most deadly beings in our world. Be aware, what you will read here would get me hanged in the street by a mob of angry women… so do be discrete.-_

 _-Orochimaru of Konohagakure-_

Naruto lowered the book in shock, his eyes widening in realization. "So… the bastard actually had some good in him after all…?" He shook his head hard and turned his attention back to the book. He turned the page, reading it carefully. While he hated Orochimaru for several (dozen) reasons… if the snake had written a book like this, then he has atoned for at least one of his many crimes. Naruto was willing to forgive Orochimaru summoning a snake to eat him at least… depending on just how useful this book really was… the evil son of a bitch might actually get formal thanks the next time they met.

Naruto turned the page again, slowly becoming absorbed into the book. Orochimaru used a lot of what he would call "big words" and his writing style was difficult to sift through… but what he wrote was… amazing. The guy… twisted as he was… seemed to know what he was talking about.

By god, the snake was on to something.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Six hours later Naruto dropped the book on the bed side and dropped back onto the bed. His mind was swimming with memories of every interaction he'd ever had with a girl. From bumping into the "Crazy snake lady" to getting on the wrong side of Sakura…

"I was blind but now I see…"

Naruto sat up and shouted to his clones. "Hey, if you find anything written by any of the three Sanin, prioritize it. I think I need to get that assholes autograph before I try to kill him next time. He was a genius!" He got no response from at least half of his clones, but the rest looked up and nodded. Naruto grinned and grabbed the next book from the small stack. It was smaller than Orochimaru's book, practically a journal. He read the title.

 _-The Compendium of Summoning – A beginner's guide to the summoning animals of the Elemental Nations, by Sakumo Hatake-_

Naruto hummed to himself as he started in on the book. Maybe he could learn more about the Toad summons from this? If he could it would be a big help.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

A long while later there were several loud pops and an agonized scream.

A little while after that Naruto came back from the realm of unconsciousness after about thirty books were forcefully shoved into his head in an instant. He sat up shakily and rubbed at his eyes, cursing himself for not thinking about the consequences of dispersing all his clones at the same time. It hurt like hell and made his head spin unpleasantly.

It required a long few minutes before he regained any composure. By that time he was aware of what his clones had picked out to read. The results were in. A full thirty-two books had been read cover to cover in eight hours. All in all he was pleased… except for the brief migraine. Three books on history, two on Geography, one about the clans of Konoha, five on important individuals in the village's past… Then his clones had devoured no less than twelve books detailing jutsu and jutsu theory. Followed by this were three books on math, one on applied chemistry, two on medicine. And all that was topped off with the entirety of Lord Jiraiya of the Sanin's works.

They were, _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, Icha-Icha Paradise,_ and _Icha-Icha Violence._

And those last two were mainly responsible for the migraine. Naruto groaned as he realized he was blushing furiously and rubbed his hand over his cheeks. Damn that stupid perv… he'd never get those out of his head now. His Shadow Clones would make sure of that. That was one of the main strengths behind the technique… anything they learned was memorized permanently with perfect recall…

" _I feel like I just lost my innocence…"_ He sat for a moment, just looking at the stacks of books with a blank stare. _"No… I'm fairly sure I did just lose it."_

He would never be able to un-remember two entire smut novels… especially after binge reading a book all about how women think and act. In other words he just fucked himself over without even realizing it. At least he wasn't in the dark about why Kakashi was always giggling during training… He was reading that stuff constantly.

Not to mention the books on math and human anatomy were still throwing random facts into his train of thought every few seconds. Naruto hissed in pain as lances made of pure applied chemistry imbedded themselves in his brain. He lay back on the bed, cringing as the overload of information continued to integrate its self into his long term memory.

An hour or so later he was at last able to stand up and get some much needed food into his belly. He sat on his bed then with half a dozen cups of instant ramen as a new batch of clones started reading again. He decided to leave off doing any reading himself from that point on. He would have more than enough disjointed information to sort through already. He hated math… He hated chemistry… and now he thoroughly despised Geography. Naruto made sure his clones knew from then on to discard any books pertaining to _that_ subject.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Kakashi Hatake, Jonin sensei of Konoha, smiled as he felt the rain dissipate, going from light sprinkles to nothing more than mist… and finally nothing at all. The great storm was over at last. Three entire weeks of torrential downpour… give or take a few days. It was the longest and most severe storm on record in Konoha… and even before that!

He was simply glad it was over. For the first time in over two weeks he could see the blue sky and clouds that were no longer black and foreboding. In fact… besides the waterlogged village, it would have been a beautiful scene. A rainbow of epic proportions hung over the south side of the village wall, giving the sky a surreal beauty.

Kakashi turned to the rest of his clean up squad. "Alright everyone. You have an hour off while the water settles in the low spots and exits the village. When that's done we meet up by the Akamichi BBQ to start dealing with the standing water."

The three men nodded and jumped off to get some much needed lunch. Kakashi just stood there on the roof, watching the rushing river where the street had been a few weeks before. It was almost disturbing how much water could fall in a week. And for it to continue for so long was unnatural to say the least. But hopefully it was over. Kakashi sighed and reached into his pouch for his Icha-Icha book, only to find his precious book was ruined by water. His visible eye widened in horror as he looked to the back of the volume to see the waterproofing seal had… failed…

Tears welled up in his eyes. This book had been given to him by Jiraiya himself… if was a first edition copy… signed by the perverted Sanin himself. It was beyond price… and now ruined simply because of water… Kakashi stared up at the heavens cursing them for destroying something so precious to him! Didn't the gods now? Icha-Icha was how he coped with all the mistakes he'd made?! This book had been his friend and companion for years! The dog-eared pages and worn cover were symbols of his love for it! It declared to all who saw it just how much he enjoyed reading it, even the dialogue and action scenes!

But… he could not cry. He was a Jonin and that was not acceptable. The only thing for it was to get another book… and take care of it far better than this one. He _would_ make his next collection of Icha-icha damn near indestructible!

With that purpose firmly in mind Kakashi jumped off in the direction of Naruto's apartment. He knew that the Civilian council had decided to use his apartment complex as the storage place for the local library's books. And the boy could use Shadow Clones better than anyone he'd ever met. He could find him the first two books in the series in no time!

Kakashi arrived at Naruto's apartment five minutes later. He walked up to the door, already preparing suitable excuses to help the boy find what he wanted. After all, Naruto knew what Icha-Icha was… even if he had yet to experience the true joys of it. He personally didn't need Naruto getting on his case about reading erotic literature. The other Jonin had that right… His cute little students didn't.

Kakashi fixed his best eye-smile on as he raised his hand to knock on the door.

He knocked again.

And again…

The Jonin frowned and prepared to pound the door hard when it suddenly opened. Standing in the doorway, looking up at him, was Naruto… Or at least one of his clones. Kakashi looked into the room, somewhat shocked by what he saw.

There were at least thirty clones in the room. Half of which were adhering to the walls and ceiling. The rest sat on the floor or leaned against large stacks of books. All of them were reading. Kakashi's gaze settled on Naruto's bed where the blond was reclining back against the wall. In one hand was a book. In the other were a pair of chopsticks. And in his lap was a cup of instant ramen. As Kakashi watched the blond used one finger to flip the page while taking another careful bite of ramen… as not to spill the precious substance.

Meanwhile his eyes were keenly focused on the book in hand. Kakashi's scanned the title from the doorway, his eyes widening even further.

 _-A Treatise on Survival; Fangirls, Fanboys, and other Vicious Beasts'_

 _-Minato Namikaze-_

Kakashi watched as one of the clones suddenly popped. Naruto flinched like a kunai had imbedded itself by his ear and he closed his eyes for a moment. Then he shook his head and turned the page again.

"Hellooo? Earth to Sensei?"

He snapped out of his daze and looked down at Naruto's clone. "Oh, sorry about that. I just knew that the library had put its books in this apartment complex and there was one in particular I needed. By the way… if you haven't noticed… the rain stopped."

The clone nodded. "We knew. But we're kind of busy. We already read all the books in this room and we finished half the books in the apartment over. Boss just found one written by the Fourth Hokage too…" He tilted his head. "Anyway… what did you need? I could probably get you whichever book you need as long as it isn't one on Geography or Physics… We've been discarding most of those out of hand."

Kakashi blinked. "You sound a bit different. Something happen while you were stuck in here?... besides reading more books than most people read in a lifetime?"

"Well we read a dictionary yesterday and found out that our vocabulary was lacking. So boss prioritized literature so he doesn't sound like a moron all the time. And plus it makes reading all the other technical works much easier." The clone smiled. "Anyway… what book did you need?"

"I uh…"

"Let me guess… Icha-Icha Paradise or Icha-Icha Violence?"

Kakashi started to sweat. "You…"

"Read them? Yeah. It was boss's fault though. He didn't realize that they would be in the stacks here so he didn't advise us not to read them."

"I see." The jonin glanced around the room. "So you have already read all of these books?"

The clone shook his head. "No, these are from the other room. All the books we read we put in storage scrolls and then moved them to where these books originally were in the room over." He squinted at Kakashi with a suspicious look. "So… what book _were_ you looking for?"

"I uh… -sigh- …You got me. Get me the Icha-Icha books."

"Knew it… perv."

"Hey, you've read them too now. And with Shadow clones you can probably recite the entire thing word for word. I should tell Jiraiya you memorized his books… He'd be so proud."

"Sensei."

"Hm?"

"If you breathe a word of that to Pervy Sage, Boss will steal Kurenai Sensei's panties and hide them in your house… and then frame you for it."

Kakashi cringed within the confines of his own mind, but crossed his arms as if unimpressed. "Okay Naruto… If you want to play hard ball, so can I. You should know that just because I wasn't a prankster, doesn't mean I can't do it like the best."

"Oh… you think you can even hold a candle to Boss Kakashi-sensei? Maybe he should tell Bushier Brows-sensei that you wear a green jumpsuit behind closed doors and shout about youth when no one is around to hear you." The clone grinned wickedly. "Do you really want to make war on the Boss? I'm sure he's more than up to the challenge after being stuck in here for three weeks with nothing to do but think up new pranks and read."

Deciding a tactical retreat would be best, Kakashi eye-smiled again and put his hand to the back of his head nervously. "Now, let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. I'm sure we can come to some arrangement."

"Like I thought." The clone smirked and popped.

A second later Naruto, the original that is, looked up. Kakashi waived to him and put his hands together in a slightly pleading gesture. The blond boy in the orange jumpsuit shrugged and made two clones. The first one darted out of the room past Kakashi, while the other one grabbed a book from the pile, scanned the cover, and sat down in an empty spot to read.

Kakashi entered the room carefully, keeping his head low to avoid the clones stuck to the ceiling. "So Naruto, how are things going. I see you took an interest to reading while you had the opportunity."

Naruto glanced away from his book. "I guess. Some books are better than others. I never knew so many people from Konoha wrote books. It's like everyone has a book lying around somewhere. I've found books written by all three of the Sanin, three written by Jiji, and this one… written by The Fourth. It's pretty awesome. Hey, sensei, did you know that the _Uzumaki_ are a real clan?!"

He froze. Naruto was peering up at him with a blatantly curious expression… but he was a master of looking underneath the underneath. And there was a certain subtle… something in Naruto's eyes. As if he was testing him. "Actually I did."

"Then… why didn't you tell me I was from a real clan?"

Kakashi chuckled, his uneasiness never entering his voice. "Well, you see I never really thought about it. I never really thought of you as an Uzumaki."

A flicker of disappointment entered Naruto's eyes and Kakashi had to force himself not to wince. He knew that look. It wasn't betrayal exactly. But the look of someone who knew he was just lied to. The blond's gaze dropped. "Oh well… I guess that's fine."

" _Shit."_ Kakashi glanced around the room, wondering what he could do to quickly make it up to Naruto. That was when he noticed the clone in the corner of the room reading a book on Elemental manipulation. "Hey Naruto… what do you know about using the Elements?"

He blinked, confused. "Um… I know that Elemental Manipulation is the cornerstone of Ninjutsu. There are five elements, each one being weaker to another and stronger to a second. There's fire, water, earth, wind, and lighting. Fire beats wind. Wind beats lightning. Lightning beats earth. Earth beats water. Water beats fire."

Naruto frowned for a moment. "You use lightning and fire jutsu for the most part sensei… but because of the Sharingan you can copy jutsu of any elemental affinity you can use… which means you can also use the other three elements like you used water in the Land of Waves." Naruto seemed puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

Kakashi stood there dumbstruck for a few moments before he at last got a hold of himself. The change in Naruto's attitude and knowledge was astounding… After just a few weeks he'd memorized concepts that would normally have been inimical to him. The Naruto he remembered would have probably had a hard time even remembering which elements were good against which. Now he could recite them all in order.

Truly this storm seemed to have had at least one benefit.

"-ahem- Naruto… I would be willing to help you find and train your elemental affinity. It's something I happen to have a lot of experience with. Before the Chunin exams I helped Sasuke find his. I'd like to do the same for you."

Naruto frowned and then reached under his bed for a moment, fumbling for something. Then he leaned back, bringing a book with him. Kakashi immediately recognized it. The book was titled _The Fall._ It was a history of Uzushiogakure written by the last known Uzumaki, Kushina… Naruto's mother. _"What? How is that even here? Did the restricted portion of the library somehow find its self into his apartment as well?!"_

"This here…" Naruto said, weighing the book with one hand. "…is an account of how Uzushiogakure was destroyed by the alliance of Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri about fifty years ago. But it talks about the clan its self a lot. It says that Uzumaki are born with one or two of three elements; water, wind, or lightning. Although it says that Uzumaki are usually born with two elemental affinities. One from the father and one from the mother. It's actually rare for an Uzumaki to be born with just one affinity." Naruto's eyebrows drew together. "And the clan is supposed to have a lot of powers that are borderline Kekkei Genkai…"

"I knew that… But what does that have to do with anything?"

"One of my clones read a book about elemental manipulation for beginners. And it showed how people discovered their affinities back in the old days before chakra paper was available." Naruto pointed to himself. "It showed a way to channel me chakra into the air around me. Supposedly if you do it right then your chakra manifests in intricate patterns. I referred back to the book constantly for three hours until I was sure. I know I have Wind affinity… and I'm pretty sure I have a Lightning affinity."

Kakashi found himself amazed again. _"Just how much has he learned all this time? Has he been reading and learning from an entire library worth of information on every conceivable subject for the last three weeks?! If he has then… it might take months to sort through everything he'd learned."_ He mentally cried for the good old days when Naruto was easy to manipulate. Now he'd actually have to give the blond 100% or be left behind.

That is… if Naruto was anything like his father.

"So Sensei… I'm pretty sure I know my affinities, but I suppose it would be more precise to get it tested the usual way. Do you have the time to help me?"

"Of course." Kakashi smiled behind his mask. _"Not really. The village is going to be in a state of disrepair for weeks until dirt and gravel can be shipped in to fill the riverbeds that were once streets… all of the barricades and such need to be removed and flooded street level buildings need cleaned… But I suppose I can use my legendary reputation to give Naruto a hand for a while. Yep… those black cats are everywhere… constantly making me take the long way around."_

"Cool, so… I'm just going to leave my clones here. I'll come with though." A second later Kakashi found two books deposited in his hands by the clone from before. He saw Naruto hand the book written by the Fourth to the clone as he put on his forehead protector. "Come on Sensei. Let's go."

Kakashi slipped the two small books into his side pouch. "Okay Naruto… don't get ahead of yourself. We'll need to stop by Hokage's tower for the Chakra paper. Most of the equipment from the ninja stores ended up being stored there. And we can pop in to see the Hokage while we're at it. I'm sure he'll want to know about your affinities."

"I guess." Naruto shrugged and they both left.

A few minutes later they were entering Hokage's tower through a window. The grounds outside were still filled knee deep with water. Afterwards they headed down the hall and into the second floor lobby. Naruto glanced around at the piles and piles of stuff crowding every corner of the building. It seemed as though the tower was almost as crowded as his own room. Which was certainly saying something.

Kakashi led him to the third floor and over to the Hokage's office past a few Chunin who seemed to be looking over a map of the village. Naruto scowled inwardly as the secretary looked up from her small desk. She in turn scowled back, muttering something under her breath about good for nothing Jonin and the _creatures_ they taught. Kakashi tensed at that last part, his fists clenching even as they stopped in front of her.

"I'm here to get Naruto's affinity tested. I'd like to know where the chakra paper from the ninja supply store is kept."

She glanced between them, almost seeming to think about refusing. But in the end she decided to tell them. "Down the stairs in room 2-14. Only take what you need Hatake."

"Will do." Kakashi grumbled and turned away, walking back down the stairs to the second floor and taking a left. Naruto followed after him. his mind was lost… darting constantly between what was happening in that moment and what he'd learned in the past two days.

Since he started reading and having his clones study on mass for him… he'd improved himself more than he'd ever imagined. His vocabulary was no longer limited to what a ten year old might know. He no longer went looking for conflict… as he demonstrated when he tried to get a feel for Kakashi earlier. Even the Fox had commented on the rapid change, saying that, _**"Well… brat you have a functioning brain after all… amazing. And you acquired that man's penchant for study. It seems you aren't a useless meat bag as I originally believed."**_

It wasn't exactly the best compliment he'd ever received, but it wasn't the worst either. And the very fact that the Kyuubi chose to comment at all proved how far he had come in such a short time. Naruto personally thought that he had always had the potential to do this… to change from an immature kid into an intelligent young ninja… It just wasn't going to happen without that little extra push. The storm was that push.

Without it the books would have never been stored in his apartment building. And without that he would have never become interested in reading or researching the myriad subjects available to him.

Hell… he managed to improve himself immensely just having one of his clones read a dictionary. It tripled his vocabulary in six hours! Then Orochimaru's book… Now that was something that would stay with him for the rest of his life. As twisted as the man himself was, he had a far better understanding of women in general than anyone he knew. Certainly Pervy Sage had no clue… While he himself didn't understand why women acted the way they did, the book gave him guidelines to figure out the cause and effect.

He even read an entire book on Fuinjutsu… which also happened to be written by Minato Namikaze. There was a book he might just have to reread, clones or not.

All of it was a… eureka kind of moment for him. It was all here, he just had to read it and sort through what he learned. Not all of it would be correct and some of it would certainly be opposite to the truth… but it was a start. He couldn't honestly say he wasn't still ignorant, but he could easily claim that he was working his way out.

Naruto frowned, thinking back to the book, _The Fall._ It made his blood boil just thinking about it… but he'd read a book about controlling one's emotions and never letting others know what you felt inside. While he didn't like the premise of the book, which was to deceive others, he felt that the skill its self would be invaluable. Besides, he put on a fake smile all the time… and no one seemed to notice.

Why couldn't he be calm and collected on the outside and furious on the inside? It would be excellent practice and allow him to get what he wanted easier. After all… how many people would tell anything to a pissed off fourteen year old? If he wanted to discover the information he felt he needed to know, he would have to be calm… and he would have to be collected.

He forced the frown from his face, replacing it with a neutral expression. If was hard… and it didn't feel right, but he needed to stop wearing his emotions out on his sleeve all the time. Otherwise people would find it too easy to take advantage of him. People like the Third Hokage and Kakashi…

Yes… he knew about them and their secrets alright. Once he read the entirety of _The Fall_ he learned about Kushina Uzuamki. She was the last official Uzumaki alive only twenty years ago. She was the sister to the Uzumaki clan heir and therefore… the princess of Uzushiogakure. When she was little she was sent away to Konoha to be the container for the Kyuubi… and shortly after that the entire village of Uzu was destroyed. Her last name was Uzumaki. His last name was Uzumaki.

It was easy to put two and two together.

Even for the less than observant idiot he'd been a weeks ago… it would have been a piece of cake. Kushina Uzumaki was his mother. He had no doubt about it… and it would account for so many things in his life that had gone unexplained. For instance… why he was made the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. If what he read was true, there was only one clan capable of having such a beast sealed inside them. His mother was the last Uzumaki… and now _he_ was the last. He literally was the only one who could be used.

It certainly helped put things in perspective. His parents hadn't hated him. They'd had no other choice! It was either him or the whole village… And it was clear from how Kushina wrote that she cared deeply for Konoha. She couldn't let thousands die just because she wanted her own son to live a happy and fulfilling life.

And he respected her for that decision. He really did. He just wished she could have survived.

But that wasn't all of it. Not by a _long_ shot.

His clone had been surprised… after starting to read Pervy Sage's first book. It wasn't smut at all. and point in fact the name of the first character was Naruto… apparently named because of an incident in Jiraiya's life that got him his first kiss. _Naruto_ … that was his name… and a fairly uncommon one. For instance he knew two people named Sakura. And there were lots of people named Kiba in the village, although most were civilians. It was a popular name after all. But he'd only ever known of one Naruto and that was him.

It was also known to him that Jiraiya of the Sanin trained the Fourth Hokage. And it seemed like a big coincidence that his name would be Naruto… the same as the main character in Pervy Sage's first and only non-smut novel.

His Jiji, the Third Hokage had told him that his parents were heroes who died during the Kyuubi attack… His mother certainly had died… probably when the Kyuubi was being released from her. He didn't know much about the Biju, but he knew now that having one extracted from you was almost guaranteed to be lethal. But his question now was… who was his father?

The possible answer to that had come like a bolt of lightning to the face. One of his clones… who just happened to be reading a book about politics and the structure of the first Hidden villages… popped. And one of the first facts that jumped into his head was this. _"Jinchuriki, as the most destructive weapons a village can possess, are inherently a risk to the village its self. In order to retain control of the Biju they held, Jirchuriki were often made of the Kage's direct family… or adopted into the family at an early age…"_

The answer seemed so clear. Minato Namikaze died the same day he sealed the Kyuubi inside him… at the cost of his own life. He was of course the Fourth Hokage and most likely related to Kushina Uzumaki in some way… But he had no other family. As it was well known, the Namikaze clan was all but extinct. So… if the Hokage was close to Kushina Uzumaki, his mother… how were they connected?

Well… Mito Uzumaki was the first container of the Kyuubi… and she was married to Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. Was it so far a leap to think that Minato Namikaze might have married Kushina Uzumaki?

It would explain why he himself looked nothing like an Uzumaki… and yet had the name. From _The Fall_ he knew that Uzumaki had pale skin and red hair of varying shades. But he was tanned with bright spiky blond hair.

…. Just like the Fourth Hokage.

When he'd first come to this conclusion he'd laughed himself silly, thinking how stupid and desperate he was… and how comical it was that he managed to convince himself _he_ was the son of the _Fourth Hokage_. But… then he'd gone back to the book written by Minato Namikaze and compared the picture to his own face in his bathroom mirror.

Then it was obvious… He looked like a carbon copy of the guy… except his face was a bit rounder. Their eyes, hair, and skin were all the same.

So… what did that mean for him? If he was the son of the Fourth Hokage and the last Uzumaki, who just so happened to be the previous container for the Kyuubi…

Well for starters it meant he was royalty above and beyond even Sasuke. Not that it mattered to him if he was or not, but the fact that he was equivalent to a prince and yet lived in a tiny rundown apartment annoyed him. That wasn't even counting the fact that the villager's still over charged him in civilian stores. Shinobi of the Konoha trusted him now… especially after saving the village from the Shukaku.

If he was the son of the last Uzumaki _and_ the last Namikaze… it meant that he probably… No, _certainly_ had a massive inheritance. And even a fraction of it could probably have him living in a decent apartment in a better district of the village… probably with anything else he wanted. He was sure of it. As the heir to two of the greatest clans in history and the Fourth Hokage's son… there would have to be something wrong for him not to have a huge inheritance.

So… why did he live in a rundown apartment in the first place?

The answer to that was simple. He didn't know about any of this before.

Naruto's mind came to a screeching halt as he realized something. All the checks that Jiji had sent him over the years… That was probably all his money anyway! He was probably living off a very small fraction of his inheritance this very moment!

As Naruto walked behind his sensei through Hokage's tower he felt the vein on his forehead begin to throb slowly.

The nerve of him.

That old bastard had him thinking for the last eight years that all the checks he sent were out of his own pocket! As if! That penny pinching jerk probably had full control over his inheritance. It wasn't out of generosity! He was probably giving him the money that would be coming to him anyway!

Naruto fumed silently. Going through his mind was the whole section on Jinchuriki in that book on politics. That's right… the old man wanted him loyal to the village. And what better way to encourage loyalty from a helpless orphan than to give him the money he depended on to survive? What was he supposed to say to that? If he ever found a reason to want to leave the village the old man could use it against him! He'd say, _"Naruto-kun… after all I've done to help and support you… even going against the council to sent you money… you're going to leave the village?"_

His teeth ground together at the thought.

The FUCKING old man had some explaining to do. And if he didn't like the answers he got, he was going straight to Shikamaru. The lazy Nara was just like his description… lazy to a fault. But when it came to his friends Shikamaru pulled out all the stops. Shikamaru would come up with a way to get the information to the right people and he could devise a plan to get his inheritance. Hell! Maybe… since he knew Shikamaru's dad had nothing against him, just like Choji and Ino's parents… maybe he could get the elder Nara to help as well…

But first…

"Kakashi-sensei."

The silver haired Jonin didn't stop walking but asked, "What is it Naruto?"

Naruto looked right at the back of Kakashi's head and went for the kill. "Why didn't you tell me you knew my parents?"

Kakashi stopped dead, his body suddenly rigid. A few seconds ticked by and he suddenly swiveled on his heel, one eye looking down at Naruto in shock. "How did you…?"

"It doesn't matter how I know sensei, but if you must know… it was because I'm smart enough to connect the dots when they're thrown in my face. If I decide I don't hate you when you're done answering me _then_ I might tell you exactly how I found out."

"Naruto… I'm sorry.."

Looking up at Kakashi with a deadpan expression Naruto muttered, "Nice start kiss ass."

Kakashi blinked and unfroze. His shoulder dropped and he sighed. "Listen to you… for a second there I thought I was speaking to your father… and then suddenly your mother pops in." He pulled a hand through his hair muttering to himself about something under his breath. "Let me put it this way Naruto. The Fourth put down a few things in his last will. And let's say that some people might have ignored or deliberately misinterpreted them. The reason I haven't told you… is because I was afraid to."

"Why?"

"Because I might not have been able to stay as your sensei." Kakashi said honestly. "I tried to adopt you Naruto… over fifty times. And there are others too. Tsume Inuzuka… she's still trying, but Lord Third won't allow it. Lord Third told me that I couldn't adopt you, but that if I was so keen on being there that I could be your sensei… under the condition that I focused on Sasuke, who would be training under me because we both have the Sharingan."

Naruto's expression fell. He couldn't sense any outright lies from Kakashi. Which meant… "So Jiji really has been responsible for all of this… He's the reason why I didn't even know who my parents were a week ago…"

"Naruto… it's not as simple as that."

"Then how is it!? Explain that to me Kakashi!"

Kakashi silenced him with a look, his expression grave. "Listen to me and keep your voice down." The Jonin grabbed his hand and whisked him down the hall to the room they'd been looking for. The Jonin quickly opened the door and pushed him into the room, following a second later.

" _Tell… me.. now…"_ Naruto hissed.

"You're dangerous Naruto." Kakashi spoke bluntly despite the look of anger on his student's face. "You are a Jinchuriki who could possibly release the Kyuubi at any time. You're seal is based off your emotional stability. The stronger your will is the stronger the seal will be. But if something ever happened and you lost your will to live… or you felt you were betrayed by someone… the Kyuubi could get free. And there is _no one_ in this village capable of stopping it if that happens."

The older man knelt down by Naruto. "Listen Minato was my sensei. He, along with one of my teammates, made me who I am today. But regardless of how I feel about you Naruto, you are still _you._ You are going to be the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi for the rest of your life. And the Hokage had to make sure that you… who could be the most powerful Shinobi in the world someday… would remain on _our_ side."

Naruto eyed Kakashi, his anger unyielding. "Then why keep me in the dark? Why would you not tell me who my parents were?! Why after all that's happened?!"

"Because Naruto… things got out of control. Lord Third was planning on making you a Chunin after the exams and telling you then, but he saw you use the Kyuubi's chakra. It scared him more than he's willing to admit. He thought that if you released the demon's chakra in a simple tournament match… that the seal must be coming undone. He probably assumed that telling you about your parents was too much of a risk."

"A risk…" Naruto's growled. "A risk because I might lose control and release the Kyuubi in anger?"

Kakashi nodded sadly. "Yes…"

"And you wanted to tell me?"

"Very much so." He smiled as best he could with only one eye showing. "After all, you're almost like a nephew to me. If your parents had lived I'd probably be your lazy uncle Hatake that Kushina would beat for reading Icha-icha around you."

"So…" Naruto looked down at his feet in thought. "Now that I know can I confront Jiji about it? I mean, if I know the secret what is the point? Could I move out of that dingy little apartment and into a halfway decent home…? Just little things like that. I'm not expecting him to go and announce my heritage to the whole village."

"Nor would he. You're parents both had enemies. Despite how it looks the village has only just recovered to the strength we were before the Kyuubi attack. Kumo is regrettably the strongest village and they'd probably go after you if they found out the Fourth had a son. They tried to kidnap your mother when she was about your age you know."

Naruto grimaced. "I know alright."

"Then you understand that revealing your heritage isn't advisable for quite some time. I personally wouldn't do it until you were a Jonin… or later. You have to remember that Iwa still despises your father and by extension you."

"Well I never said I would do that!" His scowl deepened. "I wasn't asking about telling the village. I specifically asked about telling Jiji!"

Kakashi sighed. "I don't see a problem with it. Just don't harass him to release you inheritance. The fact is that both your parents were rich, but getting the money would require you taking up the mantle of the Uzumaki clan in the very least. Right now you are only "officially" an Uzumaki by name. Those clan funds won't be available until your status as a clan member is released.

"And why is that a problem?" Naruto crossed his arms. "Everyone already knows me as Naruto "Uzumaki". What is the issue with coming out and calling myself the exact same thing?"

"I…"

"And besides that! If I'm the only freaking Uzumaki in Konoha and my mom had enemies or something… what's the point then? I'm still tagged as an Uzumaki either way!"

The Jonin blinked and groaned as he realized the truth behind that. "I guess you're right about that much. Now… how about this. We will go up and talk to Lord Third after we get your elemental affinities tested. We can work out what to do from there." Kakashi frowned thoughtfully. "But come to think about it, he'll be stepping down as Hokage soon."

Naruto shrugged. "Already knew that. Granny Tsunade is gonna be the next Hokage. Damn old woman. I was supposed to be the next Hokage."

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Don't let Lady Tsunade hear you say that…"

"As if I care! Jiraiya might be a perv, but as least he doesn't transform himself to make him look like he's twenty!"

"True…" Kakashi allowed. "But I _still_ wouldn't say it to her face."

"Too late for that. Already told her when we met the first time."

Kakashi paled. "Okay… I wouldn't advise doing it again though. Lady Tsunade is not one who is known for her patience." He shivered at that thought. She certainly didn't have any patience with him. Before all this rain started she'd told him that if he intended to continue reading smut on the job she would roast him alive over a pile of burning Icha-icha. "Anyway… let's get that chakra paper."

Naruto didn't answer as Kakashi started looking through the stacks of equipment looking for it. He simply stood back to watch his sensei. He didn't know what to think about Kakashi's claim that he tried to adopt him. It wasn't a lie… exactly… but there was just something not right. If Kakashi really cared about him that much would he have disobeyed Lord Third and done what he wanted? Or was this part of being a real Jonin of the village?

"Ah! Found it."

Naruto looked up. "That was quick sensei."

"Not everything takes a long time Naruto." Kakashi turned away from the stacks of the equipment with two pieces of paper in hand. He gestured to himself and began speaking.

"As you said earlier I use mostly Lighting and Fire jutsu, but I don't have an affinity for fire. My only affinity is lightning." He held the first piece of chakra paper between his fingers and channeled his chakra. The paper immediately crinkled. "And since my affinity is lightning the paper crumples. If it's fire it will turn black and burst into flame. If it's water the paper will become wet. Earth will cause it to harden and turn to dust. And wind will cause the paper to be cut."

Naruto took the other piece of paper. "So just push my chakra into this and it will tell me my affinity?"

"Pretty much. The Aburame clan harvests this paper from special trees here in Konoha. It reacts very strongly to chakra unlike most substances."

"Okay…" Naruto held the paper between his thumb and forefinger. "Here goes nothing."

They both watched as Naruto channeled his chakra.

That was when something odd happened. The paper in Naruto's fingers turned a brilliant gold, crinkled, and then fell apart in little yellow flakes. Naruto just looked at the paper flakes fluttered down to the floor dumbly. He opened his fingers and a few more of them fell.

He looked up at Kakashi. "Um… I'm taking a wild guess that means something different from normal…"

Kakashi nodded. "You could say that."

"So… what's my affinity?"

"Um… I have no idea."

Naruto bent down and picked a few golden flakes up. "This wasn't supposed to happen was it?"

"No it was not." Kakashi frowned and bent down as well. "But… I know someone who will _probably_ know. Let's get a couple of these and go talk to Lord Third. He's not called to Professor for nothing."

"I guess…."

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

 **And that's the end of the first chapter. So just so everyone knows I plan on making this a trilogy of sorts. The story with have a pretty slow start, leading up to the first real crossover element, which may come around chapter six. Until then I hope you enjoy having a better educated Naruto to read about!**

 **Now… on to other things. I have a Poll up for a Naruto/To love Ru crossover I've been working on for a while. Please check it out if you're interested!**

 **And last of all remember to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here's the next chapter of my newest story! I hope you enjoy, but first… an important word to all my readers!**

 **Yes I know Hiruzen dies at the end of the Chunin exams. Keeping him alive was a matter of personal preference (as well as merely wanting him alive regardless) I don't think it's realistic that four ninja like the Sound four could possibly infiltrate the village when the likes of Itachi and Kisame get caught easily. So for your information… the sound four weren't able to get to the arena in time to erect a barrier around Orochimaru and Hiruzen.**

 **Therefore his ANBU and other ninja were able to help him in his battle, meaning of course that he Orochimaru wasn't given enough time to summon the resurrected Kage and Hiruzen didn't have to sacrifice himself.**

 **Keep in mind this also means Orochimaru wasn't crippled…**

 **Now onto the story.**

 **(I don't own any part of Naruto or any other crossover element in the story)**

 **Master of All Things – Part one – Broken Words**

 **Chapter 2 – The Perv, the Seal, and the Peeper**

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Naruto and Kakashi entered through the open door to the Hokage's office. The first thing the Jonin saw was a blond woman wearing what could be the clothes of one Tsunade Senju. His single visible eye rose to the back of her head, catching sight of the twin pigtails going down her back. Yep, that was her alright.

Kakashi noted that it looked like her and Lord Third had just finished a heated argument. The old man, who was still recovering from the attempt on his life a few weeks ago, didn't look so good. Tsunade on the other hand looked like she was ready to put someone's head through a wall, although that wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence. _"Okay… not the best time but it might actually be a good thing she's here. Tsunade never would have supported Naruto being on his own in the first place. If things get heated she might back us up."_

"Kakashi…" Tsunade turned to see him as Hiruzen spoke. "What is it? And why is Naruto with you? Shouldn't you be out helping restore the village?"

"Ahem… yes, well some things came up and Naruto wanted to talk to you. We also had something to ask you as pertaining to his elemental affinities."

The Hokage sighed and nodded. "Very well. But be quick."

Naruto glanced up at his sensei as he stepped further into the room. Kakashi looked back down at him, his single eye seeming to say, _"Go for it."_ He took a deep breath and, after looking at Tsunade for a moment, turned to the old man.

"I know about my parents Jiji."

All the air seemed to leave the room. Tsunade's eyes widened even as Hiruzen's jaw sagged. Then time sped up. Hiruzen clapped his hands sharply. "ANBU! OUT!" From the corners of the room four shadows vanished leaving them alone. The door was closed without a sound behind them. A second after Hiruzen clapped his hands again. "Fuin!"

The walls glowed briefly and then went back to normal. Naruto realized belatedly that this was a privacy seal, something that any Kage would obviously have installed in his office. His eyes flicked back and forth from Kakashi to Hiruzen… and back. Eventually the Hokage deemed it appropriate to break the silence.

"How did you find out Naruto-kun?"

Naruto frowned. "Well it started with the library being moved to my apartment complex for dry storage. I didn't have anything better to do so I started reading. But I decided that I wanted a challenge so I told myself I would read every book in my room before the storm ended. And I did too. But as I was going through my clones found a couple interesting books that I read personally. One of them was called _The Fall._ A book about the fall of Uzu… apparently written by my mom."

He crossed his arms over his chest, keeping is eyes on Hiruzen. "It wasn't long after that when I read an old book written by Pervy Sage… His first book, in which the main character is named Naruto. About the same time one of my clones read a book about village politics which had a section on Jinchuriki… It all happened so fast that I couldn't help but connect the dots that were there. If my mom was the last Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and she was also the last officially listed Uzumaki, then I would have to be an Uzumaki too. Since she basically says flat out that only an Uzumaki can hold the Kyuubi."

Naruto looked back at Kakashi for a moment, then sighed and turned to Hiruzen. "I was wondering who my father was at that point, but I didn't have any leads until a little piece of info from one of my clones popped into my head at just the right time. It's common knowledge to certain groups that Jinchuriki are often made out of relatives of the Kage or village leaders. That way they can keep the Jinchuriki loyal. Of course Kushina Uzumaki had no family here… and neither did Lord Forth, so I was trying to think of what connected them."

Hiruzen let out a small sigh as Naruto pointed out the windows to the Hokage stone faces. "There's actually a couple books written by Lord Fourth among the books I read. And in one of them there's a picture of him from when he was like seventeen. I realized, after I looked in a mirror, that I almost look like his clone." Naruto's frown deepened. "So that's about the time I realized that I'm the son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze. I already asked Kakashi-sensei about it. He explained a bit about why you didn't tell me. But I still want to know your reasons."

Tsunade suddenly whistled. "Well old man… looks like the brat wised up. He sounds just like him."

"Naruto-kun… You need to understand that I am Hokage and as such my responsibility is to the village. You lost your parents the day you were born and the Kyuubi could be sealed inside no other. And unfortunately the seal Minato placed on you is based around your mental well being. I wanted you to be happy and have a good childhood, but if I did that… then the villagers and no small portion of the Shinobi in the village would have rebelled against me."

Naruto's fists clenched, but he didn't speak.

"By the time you were old enough to understand what was happening to you it was clear that you had inherited your mother's loud mouth and personality. And I _couldn't_ have told you about your parents. The first thing you would have done was climb to the top of Minato's monument and shouted it to the village at large. Can you deny that?"

"No.." he grudgingly admitted.

"So I waited. Kakashi as well as a select few others pestered me incessantly to allow them to adopt you. At the time Kakashi was an ANBU captain with the best record since his own father. I couldn't afford to have him retire and adopt you no matter how much I would have liked it. So I sent you checks and had you moved into your apartment as soon as I could to get you away from the orphanage. It didn't help your case that you decided that being Hokage was your goal, taking your own father as your chief role model even less so."

"You're saying that because I was such a loud mouth that I couldn't be trusted to keep the secret?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "No… that only cemented an already difficult issue. It states in Minato's will that you will inherit _everything_ from the Namikaze clan. For your information the only clan that had more wealth in the village was the Uchiha… and Sasuke is no longer here to access that." He sighed and removed his hat, placing it on the table in front of him. "The problem is that the Civilian council doesn't know about you being his heir. The second I withdraw funds from the Namikaze estate they will know and want to know why. And I don't have the authority to withdraw the funds from a closed estate without there being a crisis on hand."

"What about you paying out of pocket with your money like it seems you've been doing. And then when I get access to my estate I can pay you back. If the Namikaze clan was so rich then there shouldn't be any worries."

"However… what will others say about that Naruto? Even after you saved the village from the Shukaku, there are still plenty of shortsighted people in the village who would have you hanged in the street. Listen, Konoha is as close as you can come to a democracy anywhere in the Elemental Nations. Unfortunately that is your father's doing. And it worked well for him. But I do not have the same support as he did. The civilians and younger Shinobi idolized your father. But today the only ones who feel the same respect for me are old men and women. While I have the last word in all matters, the more I do against the wishes of the village, the less effective any other measures I make will be."

Naruto was silent after that, his eyes drilling into the old man with the intensity of a miniature tailed beast. "Okay… so why is that a problem?" His voice came out slow. "If you can _basically_ do whatever you want at the cost of the village's support then you can just do whatever you want… and by the time everyone throws you out of office Granny Tsunade will be right there to take the hat from you."

The three older ninja stared at him for a long moment as Naruto continued. "The villagers would be happy because you stepped down. Then she could come in with the wave of enthusiasm at her back. Plus Tsunade is a Senju. The Shodaime and Nindaime were both Senju. She's even the Shodai's granddaughter.

Hiruzen opened his mouth to reply… and then closed it. He frowned, not liking, and at the same time loving how intuitive Naruto had become in such a short time. A month ago Naruto couldn't have argued his way out of a cardboard box. And today he was convincing a Kage to go along with his idea.

Maybe the Namikaze blood was finally starting to show through?

"Plus…" Naruto continued. "…I think it's mainly the civilians who still hate me. Most of the ninja came around after the Chunin exams. There were lots of people who came to visit me in the hospital, my team and friends aside. They wouldn't have even given me a second glance before I took down Gaara."

"True…" Hiruzen shook his head. "Regardless. What would you even want me to buy for you, assuming I went with this plan of yours?"

"To start off with I'd like a halfway decent apartment on a side of town that doesn't have a bar a block away. I'm not saying I'm going to pepper bomb the bar down the street because I already did it and they got the message… but I still get tired of the freaking graffiti on my door."

Hiruzen sighed. "That I can do."

"I'd also like some ninja equipment that isn't second hand and rusting away. Usually I raid the training grounds around the village for kunai, but it's a pain because everyone prefers different sizes and weights. I'm trained to throw standard and no ninja whose above Genin level actually uses standard."

Kakashi blinked and looked down at him in blatant confusion. "But you throw just as good as Sakura and I know for a fact her Kunai and Shuriken set is standard."

"Well yeah. When you're forced to use kunai of varying weights all the time you have to get good at judging the weight instantly. Why do you think Sasuke-teme always got mad at me when we fought ranged battles? His stupid Sharingan couldn't tell the difference between them in mid flight. One kunai would be light weight and the next one would be full weight and it would throw off his blocks."

Hiruzen scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well I can certainly get you that. Ninja tools aren't something you should ever have to go cheap on. I bet Kakashi would have bought you a decent set if you'd told him."

"I would have you know." Kakashi placed a hand on his head, ruffling his hair. "You need to ask about these things."

"Yeah, but I don't like needing help."

Kakashi shrugged. "Most ninja don't. Being self sufficient is a good thing, but knowing when you require assistance is something else entirely."

Naruto grimaced and shoved the hand away. "I know that!" He stepped away from Kakashi. "And something else I'd like is a pass from Jiji so I can go in the Library without that dumb old woman trying to tell me I'm not allowed. Old hag… someone needs to tell her that she isn't some village big shot just because she knows how to sort books!"

Hiruzen nodded again, his eyes serious. "I can do all of that and more Naruto… but it occurred to me just now that I'm forgetting something." He grunted as he leaned over, pulling something from his desk drawer. A moment later he came out with a letter. "Ah. Here it is. Jiraiya-kun wants to take you on a training trip. He'll be showing you Fuinjutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and the ins and outs of his Spy network. You should know he's your Godfather too."

A sweat-drop formed on the back of Naruto's head. "Wha…? That old perv is _my_ Godfather. Jeeze… my parents sure set their standards pretty low. But I guess their marriage wasn't common knowledge so of course they would have a limited number of people to work with."

Kakashi and Hiruzen blinked owlishly at that. Tsunade on the other hand…

"Ha! Yeah, I keep liking you more and more kid. That was a good one! Put that perv in his place! I'm glad you took after your mother in that way. Minato was almost as bad as Kakashi. At least he had the sense not to read Jiraiya's work in public, the moron."

"M…my dad was a perv too?"

Hiruzen nodded sagely. "And the luckiest man in the world too… Kushina… well she didn't look like much when she was little, but she sure filled out later on. I believe Jiraiya based the main heroine in his third book after her. Of course Tsunade beat him half to death when she found out. Which is why it's called Icha-icha Violence."

Naruto's face went blank. And then… as if someone was steadily turning up a temperature gauge on the back of his head… his face turned red. His eye twitched profusely and he swallowed loudly once. "P..pervy Sage… based a.. smut novel… off my mom…?"

Tsunade nodded, her knuckles popping at the mere thought of it. "Oh yes he did… and he couldn't even sit down for a week afterwards, much less peep on anyone."

"Where is.. where is he now?"

Tsunade shrugged and Kakashi scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Honestly I don't know."

"He's here in the village… somewhere." Hiruzen waived his hand dismissively. "He said he'd grab you when he was ready to leave the village again. You'll be gone for two years or so. Which means I can get you anything you ask for… but for the most part you won't really get any of it until you get back from the training trip."

Naruto didn't dignify that with a reply.

"Hey brat… what's wrong with you?" Tsunade raised one eyebrow.

The blond boy just stood there for a moment, red in the face. Then his lips moved, slowly. _"I'm gonna kill him…"_

There was a sudden movement off to one side and everyone, save Naruto, looked up.

"Hey! How's it going, looks like everyone I wanted to talk to is all in one place! Perfect!"

Hiruzen chuckled. "Jiraiya… we were just talking about you."

"Yeah… about how I almost beat you to death." Tsunade said, smirking.

Jiraiya laughed. "Huh?! Which time?"

"The one where I found out you based a smut character off…"

"YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Tsunade was interrupted by a shout as Naruto launched himself at Jiraiya. Although surprised by the sudden attack Jiraiya was not inexperienced enough to let the blond missile connect. So he casually slipped to the side as Naruto shot out of the window behind him.

What he wasn't expecting was Naruto to anticipate this and make a shadow clone to throw him back into the building… or in this case, into the small of Jiraiya's back. Unsuspecting of the surprise attack turned sneak attack the Sanin wasn't able to dodge this time. So as he sat on the window ceil Jiraiya received two feet in the small of his back at near terminal velocity. The force, which would have knocked a lesser man unconscious, only threw Jiraiya forward.

Unfortunately for him he was thrown directly into the not inconsiderable bust of Tsunade Senju.

The events that followed were more than enough to knock _any_ man or woman (or Biju) unconscious. The flurry of blows that assailed Jiraiya reduced him to a pile of tenderized flesh and bruises in three seconds flat.

From the window ceil Naruto admired his handiwork with smug self satisfaction. Kakashi and Hiruzen merely prayed for Jiraiya's safe return to the land of the living. Tsunade hadn't been holding back on those last few hits. Even the reinforced floor underneath Jiraiya's prone form was cracked.

"So… Naruto… was that why you wanted to know where Jiraiya was?"

Naruto turned to Hiruzen and nodded, smiling devilishly. "Pretty much."

Tsunade growled. "Idiot probably let you hit him hoping to get off the hook… the nerve of him…" She turned and paced to the other side of the room where she dropped down onto the small couch. She crossed her arms, being careful not to accentuate her assets anymore than they already were. Her hazel eyes remained trained on the unconscious man with distaste.

Eventually Kakashi coughed. "Um… anyway… there was another matter, not related to Naruto finding out about his parents."

"And what is that?"

Kakashi motioned for Naruto to come forward, which he did. And he took one of the pieces of chakra paper Kakashi provided. "Well, when we attempted to discover his elemental affinity, something quite odd happened. Instead of the paper splitting in half or crinkling like I expected, it turned gold, crinkled and then dissolved into flakes."

Hiruzen's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Sounds like a bloodline, would you show it to me Naruto-kun?"

Naruto walked across the room and stood in front of the desk, followed by Kakahsi. Tsunade, curious as to the result, stood and walked over as well. Naruto glanced around at them for a second and then held the piece of chakra paper over the table in front of Hiruzen. Then he pulled on his chakra.

The white paper quickly turned a metallic gold, then instantly crinkled. A second later it fell apart like ash in the wind. The gold flakes scattered on the table, making Hiruzen blink in confusion. Tsunade's reaction was much the same.

"What the hell kind of affinity is that?"

Hiruzen stoked his chin. "Hm… the crinkling of the paper shows a strong lightning affinity… and I would surmise that the disintegration afterwards showed a weak Earth affinity, but that wouldn't make sense as neither of your parents even used earth that much. As for the transformation of color from white to gold… I've only seen that once before…"

Kakashi tilted his head to the side in surprise. "Where?"

"With Minato. His chakra paper would turn yellow and then shred it's self. A very strange reaction. I only know because Jiraiya came to ask me what it meant. Sadly I still don't know what the color change symbolizes."

"Could it be some kind of para-elemental affinity then?" Tsunade shifted and used a finger to collect a few flakes. "Maybe a combination of wind and lightning. Weren't those Minato's main elements?"

"It could be that, but Minato didn't have a bloodline. His Lightning element was significantly weaker than his wind affinity. And neither did Kushina, although her affinities were Water and Fire." Hiruzen leaned back. "Naruto… do you feel anything strange when you manipulate your chakra?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. It feels kinda warm inside.. and sometimes, like when I'm making the Rasengan… my skin feels tingly but that's all."

Kakashi hummed. "The tingly feeling is typical of lightning users. I feel that every time I channel lightning chakra. And the heat… Well that's indicative of fire chakra circulating. I'm honestly very surprised you don't feel a cooling sensation. That's more for wind users, which Minato most certainly was."

"Kakashi is right... Then.. how about this Naruto. You try to do that again and I'll place my hand over yours to see if I can distinguish your chakra natures that way. As someone who has mastered four of the five elemental natures completely, I should be able to achieve that much."

"Okay…" Naruto took another slip of chakra paper from Kakashi and held it while Hiruzen placed his hand on his wrist.

"Go ahead Naruto-kun."

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to shove as much chakra as he could into the slip of paper.

The chakra paper, which was designed to be activated with even the most miniscule amount of chakra. The kind of chakra that a fresh Genin would produce… exploded in shower of gold dust. It seemed to drift on the air as it fell to the table, looking like glitter.

"Um… that just happened…" Kakashi's eyes flicked to Naruto. "Just how much chakra did you use just now?"

"About enough to make three shadow clones."

Tsunade face-palmed. "Naruto-baka… that's more chakra than most Chunin possess and that paper would react to a Genin farting as long as they were holding it tightly!" She glared at Naruto. "How is Hiruzen supposed to read your chakra like that?!"

"Actually I managed to get a decent reading off of that." Hiruzen smiled slightly. "Wind and Lightning… powerful lightning affinity. And an even greater wind affinity. And he also has a very slight affinity for fire. I believe it was probably crowded out by the wind affinity, being that they are opposite elements." He frowned. "But there is something else there… very strong, yet also hard to sense. I have no idea what it is. It's almost as thought your chakra has a… welcoming feel."

Naruto looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"You're chakra doesn't seem "warm" exactly. It's as if… But it's hard for me to explain. Think of it like this when someone normally connects their chakra to another's it's like two walls hitting each other. When I reached out to touch your chakra it was more like…" Hiruzen seemed to search for the right words for a minute. "… It felt more like shaking hands."

"Like my chakra was greeting yours?" Naruto withdrew his hand and scratched the back of his neck, confused. _"Well that's weird."_

Kakashi turned to Hiruzen. "What could that mean?"

"I have no idea Kakashi. Everyone's chakra feels different. For instance your chakra is much more… smooth than most lighting users Kakashi. Just as Tsunade's chakra has a rigid feel. However… I've never encountered someone where the "feel" of their chakra actually affected their chakra network."

"So is there no method of finding out why his chakra paper turns gold and flakes away the way it does?" Tsunade seemed put off by the idea that even the "Professor" didn't know what to make of it.

Hiruzen shook his head. "If we knew what we were looking for then yes, but as it stands now? We have no way of knowing the real cause. Perhaps in time he may manifest some manner of unique ability. Until then… we will have to wait and see."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Fine… but, back to the _other_ topic. What makes you think I want to go off with the perv for who knows how long?!"

They just stared at him for a moment before Kakashi asked, "Is there a reason why you _don't_ want to go and train with a member of the Legendary Sanin for two years?"

"What do you mean… _Legendary?!_ The only _legendary_ thing about him is his smut novels! When I went to train with him last time the only thing I learned was how to unlock the Kyuubi's chakra! And he did that by THROWING ME OFF A CLIFF!" Naruto's eyes blazed with self righteous fury as he mercilessly kicked the still unconscious Jiraiya. "And the Rasengan?! I could have mastered than in a day or two if he actually stayed around to teach me! Instead he just handed me a bunch of rubber balls and told me.. _"Rotation, Power, and Satiability"_ Then he took my wallet and went off to the freaking WHORE HOUSE!"

Hiruzen, Kakashi, and Tsunade remained silent for a few minutes until a low groan came from somewhere near the floor boards.

Tsunade, in a rare moment of self control, grabbed Jiraiya by the collar and started dragging him out of the room. "Allow me to deal with this Hiruzen. I'll be back in a little while."

The door slammed shut a second later.

Naruto smiled as, a short while later, he heard the screaming coming from the second floor. He turned his attention back to his sensei, who look as though he was about to speak.

Kakashi took a moment to compose himself. "Uh.. Naruto… Did you just say that you mastered the Rasengan… in a week, and practically without help?"

"So what?! It wasn't hard after I figured out what I was doing wrong. It's not my fault that my chakra control sucks. Otherwise I would have gotten it right away! Did you forget I mastered Shadow clones in a single night?! I'm might be dense sometimes, but I was always good at mastering jutsu!"

Hiruzen's head turned to Kakashi. "Um… do you recall when I told you to focus on Sasuke while you were training squad seven?"

"Yes."

"If I ever tell you to do something like that again… and Naruto is involved, feel free to ignore me."

"Understood Lord Third." Kakashi grinned under his mask. He was _so_ going to use this in the future.

Naruto dead-panned. "So what is so great about being trained under Pervy Sage again? I didn't hear anything that makes it sound like a good idea yet."

The Hokage swiveled in his chair. "Contrary to what you believe Naruto, Jiraiya can be an excellent teacher. He merely has trouble getting his priorities straight. I think that he could turn you into Jonin material in two years… provided he spends most of that time training you. I'll think of some way for you to make sure he does that. Just remind me of it before you leave."

"Okay… but what would we do for two whole years anyway?"

"For starters he would take you around to see the Elemental Nations during a time of peace. And as a member of the Sanin, they are recognized as heroes even in the other villages like Iwa. Their fight against Hanzo of the Salamander is known across the entire continent. Jiraiya has permission to enter any of the Hidden villages… on the condition he doesn't stir up trouble. So he is best suited out of anyone in the village to show you how each of the villages work."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Plus Jiraiya is a master of Ninjutsu and tactics. He might not use his head much since he can power through almost any challenge without coming up with a plan before hand, but when it comes down to it, he's as clever as they come."

"And best of all he can introduce you to Fuinjutsu. I have the feeling that with your family background… you'll take to it like a fish to water."

A huff of disappointment left Naruto as he stared at the two men. "Oh fine then! I'll train with the perv. But if he starts doing the same thing he did the last two times… then we'll waste even more time when I prank the living hell out of him."

"And I encourage you to do that should the situation arise. But for now let me find a solution to keeping Jiraiya-kun in line." Hiruzen smiled eerily. "I look forward to the challenge. Perhaps…"

There was a loud crash followed by an even louder scream that reverberated from the floor below.

"…perhaps it would be best if you go home and rest for tonight. In the morning we can sort this out and the two of you can get under way. I'll have someone deliver the new equipment to your house as well."

"Um… really? What about the…"

Hiruzen waved him off. "When Tsunade finishes dealing with Jiraiya he will be in no condition to talk… much less go anywhere. Get home and rest… unless you have something else you want from me."

Naruto paused, then nodded. "There is something else I wanted, as long as you took the news about me finding out who my parents were well."

"And that is?"

"C..could I have something from my parents...? You know like something to remember them with?" He looked down at the floor, suddenly feeling nervous. "It's just that now that I know who they were… If feel like there isn't any connection there ya know..?"

Hiruzen shot a look at Kakashi. "Kakashi… take him to his parent's house… Make sure you aren't seen and what he takes isn't something that will be recognized. Go on now. And come back as soon as Naruto is in his apartment."

"You got it." Kakashi motioned to Naruto. "Come on. Let's go. You're parents house is on the north side of the village, a short way from here."

Naruto nodded and followed his sensei out the open window.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

A long while later Naruto lay on his bed holding a sword. The blade its self was anonymous. Kakashi had told him that he couldn't take the sheath with him as it was too easily recognized for what it was. Kakashi also told him the sword was called Tamashii no Kamisori.

Naruto looked up the length of the blade, slightly curved at the tip with the metal its self made of fine chakra laced steel. However, this sword was different from others. Instead of the polished silver of a normal Katana, this blade was Damascus. The folding process usually applied to blades of normal steel didn't apply to this. As Kakashi said it required massive amounts of heat to make chakra laced steel malleable. Therefore blades like this could only be forged in conjunction with a skilled fire type Shinobi. And seeing how the vast majority of weapon smiths capable of forging a work of art like this were numbered among the Samurai in the land of Iron… blades like this were rare indeed.

Kakashi only agreed to let him take his mother's blade under one condition. He had to keep it under wraps at all times, save in desperate combat. And in the event that someone recognized the weapon… he had to make sure that either he or Jiraiya killed that person.

He'd reluctantly agreed, but kept it to himself that he wouldn't kill someone just for recognizing the blade. After all what were the chances that he'd stumble across someone, who just so happened to make him draw his sword, and that person be one of the few who'd seen it before? He didn't think it was all that likely.

Ad besides… he felt drawn to the sword. It was like the weapon called to him. He had to have it, both as a reminder of his heritage… and because he somehow felt oddly empty without it now.

Naruto idly brushed his finger over the spiral hilt and up the blade. It was a beautiful weapon. He just hoped Jiraiya could teach him how to use it properly.

After he finished admiring the blade he picked up the memento he'd taken for his father. It wasn't a weapon at all. Instead it was a small journal. His father's journal… Kakashi let him take it… mainly because he was the only one who could read it. To Kakashi, the pages appeared blank. So the Jonin didn't really see the harm in letting him have a book that only a Namikaze, of which Naruto was the last, could read.

Naruto snickered to himself as he opened the journal and started reading.

Unknown to Kakashi this was actually a Fuinjutsu notebook. Naruto guessed that his father didn't much care for people who looked at his notes on space/time manipulation. Why else would Kakashi be unable to read the book while he could clearly see the neat yet quite cramped script?

A slight chuckle escaped him. Kakashi was under the impression that this was his dad's diary or something like that… Well, that wasn't what it was in the least. Now granted he didn't understand most (if not all) of the tightly packed notes… but he was going to be training with a Fuinjutsu master for a few years. He was sure he'd be able to decipher his father's notes of Fuinjutsu by then. _"If not it's no big deal. From what I've read everyone has different styles when it comes to advanced Fuinjutsu. I'll just have to work my way up to that level eventually. Shouldn't be that hard. Mom said in her book that Uzumaki have a natural talent for it."_

Naruto sighed and closed the book, turning his head to look out the window. The rain had stopped and he was going to be gone sometime during the next day. Gone from the village for the first time in his life.

Okay… so he'd left the village plenty of times before but those were during missions. This would be for two whole years! That was a considerable chunk of his lifespan! He was only fourteen. Two years was one seventh of his entire life!

And he'd be spending it with Jiraiya of all people…

Naruto let out a retching sound and sat up quickly, closing his father's book and putting it to the side. "Fuck… what convinced me to let myself go on a two year trip with that guy? I mean he's a complete perv who would probably hand me a book on Fuinjutsu and then go into town for a month to _research."_

Swinging his feet out of bed Naruto stood up. He quickly paced past his clones who were still reading studiously. A few steps later he entered the bath room. Naruto flicked on the light and shoved his face into the mirror, examining his reflection.

So many things were rushing around in his head. It was hard to limit the flow to just one thing. It felt like listening to ten different people talking at the same time and yet being able to pick out each conversation at will. The knowledge that his clones had given him was still flying through, throwing odd irrelevant fact out when he least expected it. His feelings about Kakashi, Jiji, and the upcoming trip didn't help either.

"Shit... I'm getting a headache again…" Naruto muttered, glaring at his reflection as he tried to think about each event of the last few days clearly... Maybe if he could do that he could put each separate train of thought to rest. Right now his brain felt crowded… over full. He needed to put everything in order and get back to taking things one at a time.

"I need to get out of here…"

Naruto left the bathroom and fled the apartment through his window, which he left open. He made his way to the roof, where the night sky over Konoha was black without a star in sight. Naruto sat down and… after a moment of hesitation, lay down on the cool concrete. His eyes stared up at the night sky as his mind slowly processed the flood of revelations and knowledge that had built up over the last week. It was a bit hard to imagine… even now… that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage. A small part of him expected Kakashi and Hiruzen to deny everything when he asked.

But no… they hadn't. He was glad that they didn't try to lie to him anymore after he called them out. It wasn't exactly a good feeling, but it wasn't a bad feeling either. So far today had been one of those days that seemed ridiculously long… and yet went by with extraordinary swiftness. He hoped there weren't too many days like this in his future. He didn't like the suspense involved with knowing he was lied to and that he couldn't do anything to get answers from those who had done it.

Hiruzen was alright for now. The old man obviously had put the village's concerns above his own and he couldn't blame him for that. He was disappointed of course. There was no way he couldn't be. And it left him a little empty inside knowing that his Jiji had deceived him. But in the end he could forgive Hiruzen.

Kakashi was the same way. From what he'd been told Kakashi tried to help him for a long time, even trying to adopt him repeatedly. For that he was grateful, even though it didn't turn out. His sensei was a decent person, if slightly pathetic and an unrepentant pervert.

That wasn't exactly a bad thing though… just awkward.

Naruto closed his eyes, shutting out the night sky and it's template of stars. A part of him wished that he could unlearn everything he'd found out recently… maybe even revert back to the immature kid he'd been a few short days before. But at the same time the very idea was abhorrent. He wanted to be smart, to see things that weren't blatantly obvious. He felt like he needed to understand the way this world worked.

It would be so _fulfilling_ to know he wasn't wasting his time anymore.

What a difference a few books could make…

Naruto suddenly sat up, an idea forming in his mind and a smile curling the corners of his lips…

He had something to ask the Hiruzen about.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Hinata Hyuuga was an early riser, even more so than most in her clan. And for a family in which the average wake up time was six in the morning, that was early indeed.

But what did she do with all that extra time? Well she certainly didn't train and today was no different. With a small yawn that anyone in the village would have admitted was beyond cute, Hinata sat up in bed, raising her arms above her head as she stretched. Then she was moving, slipping out of bed and over to her elaborate dresser in which all her clothes were stored. She pulled out her customary jacket, pants, and pulled her headband off the top of the dresser.

Then with everything ready she moved to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later she left the bathroom fully dressed and ready to go about her day. Hinata opened the door to her room and peeked out. Sure enough, no one was there. Good…

Hinata activated her Byakugan, ignoring the room to her left where Hanabi slept. Instead she turned her attention to the room down the hall. Neji's room was farther away, but still within the limits of her vision. Thankfully it seemed that Neji was still asleep. Hinata smiled slightly and slipped out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. Then without a sound she moved down the hall and past Neji's room, giving the door a wide berth.

A minute later she was out of the Hyuuga compound's main building and walking steadily across the grounds. The few Hyuuga who were about at this hour were branch clan members, and even then these were only the guards. No one else would be awake at this hour without good reason.

The guards paid her no mind as she walked out of the gates and off the Hyuuga compound's land. She however took note of who they were. Again she was thankful that these were men who wouldn't report her presence to her father or the elders. Hinata pushed chakra into her muscles and then jumped, leaping up over the wooden barricade that had kept the water at bay for the last few weeks. She glanced back, making sure one last time that her escape from the day's duties was complete.

She was home free.

Hinata smiled and skipped across the roof, intent on finding one person. It had been far too long since she'd seen him. Naruto Uzumaki was her target… and she was uniquely suited to finding him.

Closing her eyes, Hinata allowed her mind to calm. Then she opened them, activating her Byakugan. Her head turned slowly as her focus shifted, allowing her to see in greater detail. Once her path had been chosen, Hinata blasted off eastward.

Five minutes later she touched down on the building across the street from Ichiraku's. Sure enough she could see the orange pants sticking out from below the curtain. Her cheeks reddened slightly as she knelt down out of sight and continued to observe the blond boy… wishing she was down there with him.

After a few seconds passed she was able to pick his voice out… along with that of his Jonin sensei. She settled down to listen.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

"Naruto… You're idea is… ingenious…" Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "In fact I'd be scared that you might use that on me at some point. But… it would definitely work to keep Jiraiya focused on your training…"

"I know right! Can't have him going off and leaving me on my own now can I?"

"But you know the problem with that right?"

"What?"

Kakashi eye-smiled and held up a finger. "There's only one person in the village capable of making a seal like that and that person is Jiraiya himself. I doubt that he would willing put that kind of seal on himself merely for your benefit."

"Oh that? I already came up with something to get around that."

"..How..?"

"Well, you know how big a perv he gets around Granny Tsunade right?"

"Of course."

Naruto grinned. "What do you think Pervy Sage would do to get a free feel on her tits?"

Kakashi paused. "I… I'm not sure that's a valid question." The silver haired jonin seemed to consider it for a moment. "Anything short of dying or having his balls cut off... I think he'd be fairly comfortable with."

"Exactly." Naruto gestured to himself. "Just like I'd do anything for a lifetime's supply of ramen, he'll do anything to cop a feel. But the biggest weakness he has is Granny Tsunade. So I figured that if I could get Tsunade to let him grope her that he'd probably be so happy he'd agree to almost anything."

"But Naruto… Lady Tsunade would never do that… ever."

Naruto's low chuckle sounded almost evil. "Oh.. hehe… I already got her to agree to it this morning."

"…but…"

"She wasn't happy about me waking her up sure, but after I told her she was getting three months of free sake… however much she wanted on demand and of the highest quality… Well let's just say she came along to my way of thinking."

Kakashi looked like he was about to burst from curiosity. "Again I ask _how_?"

"It was easy. First I went over to Jiraiya's apartment and stole his wallet, which let me tell you… it was loaded. Then I ran over to the place on the south side of the village that sells sake. Turns out that with the huge storm, the guy was having to sell off huge portions of his stock to pay for damages to his shop. I used Jiraiya's money to pay for a few _big_ cases of sake, which I took with me when I went to see Tsunade this morning." Naruto winked roguishly at Kakashi. "I managed to convince her that Jiraiya had bought them for her as an apology, but that he also wanted a real chance at fondling her breasts… but wasn't brave enough to come himself. I stayed with her until she was completely wasted and after an hour got her to agree."

"Y..you mean she actually agreed to let Lord Jiraiya… grope her deliberately?!"

"Yeah you should have seen her. She was out of it. Almost drank every bottle I brought her. I was wondering where she put it all. I'm bad enough with ramen but she was completely ridiculous. Anyway I got her to agree to let Jiraiya mess wither he breasts… and that's when I came over here. I wanted to know if you had anything to add to the seal."

"Besides the part of the seal that cuts off blood flow to his nether regions?"

"Yep."

"Or the part that alters his taste buds making alcohol taste disgusting to him?"

"That too."

"Well, I would advise you get Lord Third to add a boundary seal over that so that Jiraiya doesn't simply remove it from himself at a later date."

Naruto considered this for a second, then nodded. "Yeah, I can see how that would help. Thanks for mentioning it. I'll tell Jiji to do that…" He chuckled. "I can't wait to see Jiraiya's face after the first month when he realizes that he won't be able to do research instead of training me… hehe…"

Kakashi dead-panned. "Uh huh…" The Jonin turned away from Naruto and to the smiling form of Ayame Ichiraku, who was wiping down the bar. "So… Ayame-san, what's your opinion on Naruto leaving for so long?"

The girl looked up from her task, her eyes a bit sad, but a smile lingering about her lips. "I think it's great. He'll be able to get out and see the outside world like he used to talk about. Plus from what I hear he'll be getting trained by one of the Sanin… Not something that every blond baka gets a chance at."

"Hey?! I'm not stupid!"

"Sure… sure Naruto-kun. Just remember not to let that old pervert taint you. I'd hate to have to chase you around with my ladle when you get back." She smiled and raised the improvised weapon in a semi-threatening manner. "You should know I didn't become a cook under father. I was trained by _someone_ else entirely."

Kakashi and Naruto were both looking at the pretty brunet with twin looks of horror. Neither of them could overcome the feeling of absolute dread that overcame them in that very moment. Naruto swallowed hard and glanced as his sensei. Kakashi in turn glanced at him.

"Uh… Ayame-nee-chan is scary…"

"Indeed."

The girl pouted adorably as she shouted, "Am not!"

Naruto pointed an accusing finger at her. "Are too! I bet that's how you got the street around Ichiraku's fixed so fast. You probably scared all the ninja into doing the part in front of this place first!"

Ayame's next words were interrupted by a shout from the back.

"Well! Looks like the kids not nearly as dense as we thought!"

"Oh shut up dad!"

Naruto chuckled while Kakashi scratched the back of his head nervously. "Anyway… Ayame, Naruto. I have some duties to attend to. But I would advise you going to see Hokage-sama soon. You don't have long before you leave. And three years is a long time."

The blond nodded. "I know… See you later I guess!" he grinned suddenly and demolished his bowl of ramen with speed that equaled and surpassed his father's. Then he was gone like an arrow from a bow. Kakashi sighed and stood, having no food to finish. He then turned… only to be stopped by a sweet voice.

"Oh dear Kakashi-san… are we forgetting something?"

The Copy ninja felt a chill run up his spine as he turned to gaze backwards with his one visible eye. What he saw… he would vow never to speak of in his life… other than to his kids…. And that was only 50/50.

Ayame's eyes had turned from brown to a violent purple and they were squinted nearly shut. A dark violet aura dripped from her skin as she held aloft the ladle as though it were a ceremonial sword… and a snarling demon mask was materializing out of thin air behind her.

With speed that matching the Hiraishin, Kakashi's wallet… along with every bill in it… was dropped on the counter while the Jonin fled the scene. A few seconds later the aura dropped and Ayame wilted like a dying flower.

Taking out a handkerchief from her pocket she wiped her now sweating face as she thought, _"Damn… that takes a lot out of me… I wonder what kind of monster sensei must have been to use that all the time? Or… maybe it's just because I have low genin chakra reserves… oh well… The look on Kakashi's face was so worth it."_

Ayame smiled and stepped out from the front and into the back of the shop to yell at her father… but the elderly man was unconscious, pale, and sweating in the corner. His lips twitched in his nightmarish slumber.

" _Nala-hime… protect me… Our daughter has become such a terrifying young woman…"_

Ayame sighed and shook her head. The technique didn't do any physical harm… why were people so afraid of it? Oh well… she got paid… and there was a generous tip too!

With a smile she got around to waking her old man.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Hiruzen Sarutobi woke with a start. His aged eyes opened quickly as he looked around his office.

His lips twitched into a smirk. How long had it been since he'd stayed overnight in his office? Well, truth be told it had been a long time. He missed the feeling of being a studious and active Shinobi. Of course he was still acting Hokage, but that wasn't what he meant. He missed the adrenaline that came with protecting Konohagakure and its people, staying up late every night, devising plans and holding council meetings.

The last time he remembered truly having this feeling was when Minato had been soon to be elected as Fourth Hokage. Back in those days everything seemed perfect. The war was pretty much over at that point, the village was intact, and with the Yellow Flash as then next Hokage it seemed like the Hidden Leaf was untouchable.

Was it Naruto's discovery that prompted this sudden in pouring of inspiration? After all he'd been walking on proverbial egg shells, praying that Naruto didn't wise up too soon and alert the village to his true identity. Thankfully the boy seemed to have matured to an astounding degree in a very short time. Maybe…. Maybe he always had the potential to do so and it was just hidden up till now.

Regardless of where his energy had come from Hiruzen was determined to make the most of it.

He sat up and scanned his desk… and in particular the seal that was laid out in front of him. His mind flashed back to the events of the previous day. He knew that Naruto was right. Jiraiya was a complete and utter pervert, with few if any distinguishing personality traits besides stubbornness to offset that. If Naruto was to go off for two years (or more, you never really knew) then he would need to be trained by Jiraiya to survive out there…

And there in lay the problem. Jiraiya, for all his power and skill, was a king in the world of procrastination. Perhaps surpassing even himself in that regard. He would put things off… constantly and what was more, he usually came back blind drunk. And he didn't even have the dubious honor of having Tsunade's god like resistance to alcohol. If Naruto went with him at this time there would be nothing more than a repeat of his first trip with the Toad Sage…

In other words he would be gone for years and probably come back with at most three new jutsu and a hell of a lot bigger chakra reserves. At least that's what would happen if Naruto did nothing to further his own learning, which a month ago he would have been incapable of doing.

Either way the boy needed a way to make Jiraiya do his job for once.

Hiruzen rubbed his eyes as he smoothed over the seal diagram on his desk. This would fit the bill nicely. With the knowledge of how the Hyuuga used their Caged bird seals… and about eight hours of tampering he'd succeeded in watering down the seal enough that it only responded to at most… ten commands. Of course he'd already removed anything from the seal that would be physically detrimental to Jiraiya. Although that wasn't really an issue.

This seal…. Once applied would allow Naruto to basically force Jiraiya to get his ass in gear. It's primary function would allow Naruto to find Jiraiya anywhere… and vice a versa. After that the seal would do three things on command from Naruto. First it would make Jiraiya's hands shake like an addict going through withdraw, which would make it awfully hard for him to take notes when given research material. The second command would dull all feeling in his nether region… eventually causing him to go completely numb. And the last would disrupt Jiraiya's chakra as if a Genjutsu were being dispelled.

These were aimed at three areas in specific.

1st was to prevent Jiraiya from getting distracted in the first place. If he wasn't getting horny he'd be much less inclined to drop Naruto off somewhere and peep. The 2nd was designed to prevent him from writing or taking notes when he did have the opportunity to peek… and 3rd would allow Naruto to dispel that troublesome light deflection technique that Jiraiya could use

Hiruzen smiled as a thought sprang into his mind. "Yes… that might just work…"

A knocking at his door caused him to look up.

"Come in!"

The door opened and Naruto peeked in, a devilish grin plastered on his face. "Is now a good time?"

Hiruzen smiled right back. "Never better actually. Come on in."

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Tsunade Senju _peeled_ her drool covered face off the arm of her couch and sat up. She had been awake for nearly an hour already, trying to piece together what remained of her self-respect. It wasn't easy. In fact she didn't know if she could ever do it. Why? Because she'd allowed that smirking little blond fox that called himself a child to talk her into letting Jiraiya (of all the perverts in the world) to touch her breasts.

Sure she was completely wasted at the time… so a reasonable person could probably get out of this easy… but such as not the case with her. She was notorious for her ability to drink a _line_ of people under the table, one after the other in some cases. In fact in Demon Country she had become a local legend for challenging an entire guard's barracks to a drinking contest.

Which she won by the way…

But… so was the problem. She _had_ known what she was agreeing to at the time, no matter how blind drunk she'd been. The fact that she even remembered doing it at all was proof enough that she knew what she was agreeing to.

Oh how she hated herself. She could admit to herself that she liked Jiraiya. In fact in some of her more reasonable moments she could probably admit to caring for him even more than that…. But it was her pride that refused to let anyone else know that. And now she was letting that perv grope her on a promise from a teenager… oh kami what was the world coming to?

Obviously she was going to keep her promise… She was honor bound to do so regardless of how Naruto obviously got her drunk beforehand. Damn kid was getting to smart too quickly. From what she remembered of the kid who had convinced her to come back to the village… it almost seemed like his mind was making up for lost time, making him smarter by the day.

Tsunade blinked owlishly as she saw Shizune… out cold with her face on the living room table… a half empty bottle of sake by her head.

The soon to be Fifth Hokage felt her eyebrows twitch as she leaned forward to grab the bottle. She popped the lid and took a long swig.

" _Phft...! Lightweight…"_

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Hinata nodded to herself as she watched her father's head fall forward into his breakfast with a small thump. Off to one side Hanabi, her precious and far too serious little sister, was already mumbling in her sleep. Neji… well he didn't want to come down for breakfast so she ambushed him and tied him up… He was still unconscious in his room. As for the rest of her clan… the elders would be in no position to follow and the side branch had already been dealt with… (herbs borrowed from the hospital to put them to sleep at breakfast)

The eldest daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga felt her face tighten with determination… Once more she felt her chest burn with commitment as she reaffirmed her resolve. The Hyuuga clan was out of commission for at least a few hours. Her bags were packed. And there was only one thing left to do.

" _I'm not letting you leave without me Naruto-kun!"_

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

 **And that's a wrap! Remember to review and or critique… so long as it's constrictive criticism…**

 **The next chapter should be posted sometime next week.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Good morning, good day, good evening, and goodnightz! …depending on which time zone around American and the world you may be in. I'm back after a long absence. At least it seemed long to me. I know I said I'd update this a while ago… and I don't really have a good excuse not to, but I thought it would be nice to publish this now!**

 **The next chapter after this will be up soon. Me promises!**

 **Now… onto the reader reviews!**

 **Paradoxity:** **I know there seems to be an increasingly large number of readers who dislike Hinata or are simply tired of her overuse in Naruto Fanfiction. I can't say I understand why some people get tired of a character that they once liked, but that's not my problem. All I can say is that Hinata won't be part of Naruto's group for a** _ **long**_ **time. So… maybe you should try to enjoy the story while you can?"**

 **Djberneman** **: I get that. Honestly I do, but there is a time and a place for stories where Naruto gives the big middle finger to Konoha. This is not that story. And let's be honest here. The dark Naruto personality that he confronts while training with Kirabi is the one holding all those emotions in.**

 **Hollowseven** **: Again with the anti-Hinata doomsaying. She is a minor character in all of this. However you should know from my stories by now that I rarely keep to a single person's perspective for very long. Hinata is just one perspective.**

 **AndreyKI** **: Yeah… a "Security issue" for sure. I mean think about it. A single Kumo Shinobi was able to infiltrate a compound of supposedly all seeing ninja and take their heir. Granted he got killed escaping but I think Hinata could do considerably more damage being on the "inside" so to speak.**

 **xNamikazeKyuubix** **: You are mistaken. I wasn't bashing Hinata. She's one of my personal favorite characters. I merely thought it was realistic to assume she wouldn't be spending much time training if she constantly stalking Naruto. And that behavior is canon. As for including Hinata as one of Naruto's girls. Yes… she will be. No… it will not be for a very long time. As I mentioned in the first chapter this will be an insanely long story.**

 **Guest** **: You're not thinking about this logically. Hinata's situation and Sasuke's situation are two entirely different things. Sasuke is a scumbag. Hinata is generally a shy introvert who feels bad hurting flies. Hinata left to follow her crush. Sasuke left to train under a S-rank criminal wanted in his own village. Hinata drugged her family. Sasuke ran away and nearly killed Naruto to do it. Even if the village doesn't know here reasons for leaving there is no way she'd be declared a "missing nin".**

 **NyaNyaKityFace** **: There are many things in canon Naruto that don't make sense. Danzo helping Orochimaru into the village is one of them. I can understand the two of them having dealings where the village isn't concerned, but in my story Danzo would never let Konoha be threatened just to have Hirzuen killed. And so yes… the other events flow from that change. The sound four weren't able to erect their barrier, Orochimaru wasn't able to summon the Kage, Hiruzen wasn't able to maim Orochimaru.**

 **As for Jiraiya taking a kick in the back at terminal velocity… He's a member of the Sanin reknowned for his endurance and power. He's taken harder hits before in the actual anime and come out none the worse for wear. As for Naruto's other teachers? Yep you're right. Kishimoto did just about everything in his power to make Naruto's growth difficult.**

 **On the subject of Ayame's scary technique… all I can say is "no comment"**

 **NOW! On with the story!**

 **Master of All Things – Part one – Broken Words**

 **Chapter 3 – First days and Runaways**

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Naruto lamented the fact that he didn't get to see it happen. After his talk with Hiruzen Tsunade had come in… and sure enough Jiraiya had followed, although he was looking rather worse for wear. After that things had gone pretty quickly. He'd been told to leave the room along with Hiruzen. Naruto still remembered standing next to the old man on the second floor of the building, waiting for _it_ to be over.

Then they were called back up. Jiraiya had a shit eating grin on his face… and a newly acquired broken nose. When asked what he'd done he only answered with an enthusiastic, " _109.063 centimeters…_ _exactly_."

After that enlightening little detail Naruto had been dragged through the rules he was being given by Hiruzen… Such meaningless things as "behave yourelf" and "do what Jiraiya says". Yeah… as if he'd be following those. But all in all it wasn't bad until Hiruzen explained to Jiraiya exactly what he'd traded his ten seconds of heaven for…

Naruto again left the room, but this mainly because he had no interest in seeing Jiraiya naked as he was branded by Hiruzen's (and his) seals. When he returned Jiraiya had lost a bit of the shine in his eyes, Tsunade was looking smug as a kitten with a belly full of cream, and Hiruzen was trying hard not to laugh.

A half an hour later Jiraiya and his illustrious self were standing at Konoha's gates. The water had already left the village, leaving the streets muddy pits. Luckily for them they were Shinobi and not civilians having to slog through the muck. Hiruzen and Tsunade finished giving them their fair wells, Tsunade's goodbye to Jiraiya coming in the form of a fist in the gut.

On the other hand Hiruzen had hugged Naruto and told him to be safe and to… _"Hurry up and come back to be Hokage. Since heavens knows what will happen under Tsunade's watch."_

The old man had dodged an aggravated swipe from his former student after that.

Naruto… for the moment… couldn't be happier even if he felt apprehension towards coming events. Oh well, he'd cross all the bridges when it was time. For now he was content with a well sealed Sanin as his sensei and two years to improve himself.

Hiruzen had one last thing to say before he left.

"Now… remember Naruto…" Hiruzen smiled in that grandfatherly way old men sometimes have. "…don't be afraid to send me letters too. Since you have the toad summoning contract you can message me whenever you like. And.." He grinned wickedly for a brief moment. "…do find yourself a girl while you're out there. With all the restrictions on Jiraiya-kun… that may be my only hope for a new volume in the Icha-Icha series in the near future!"

"Perv! I knew it!"

Hiruzen winked at him. "Eh Naruto-kun… don't mark me off the list quite yet. You might not enjoy Jiraiya's books, but you'll eventually learn to appreciate the female form. Just you wait."

Naruto's eyes blazed with silent recrimination.

"Perv."

Tsunade smirked and elbowed the elderly Kage, the move almost knocking him to the ground. "Ha! Maybe there's hope for the next generation after all! Well, see you Naruto and…" She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. "…here's a book _I_ have been writing. It's not finished, but it will be by the time I'm Hokage."

Naruto took the book and looked at the cover.

" _Yin and Yang, the Art of Splitting Chakra"_

 _-Tsunade Senju-_

"What is this about?"

Tsunade crossed her arms. "In order to make chakra you must combine physical energy and mental energy. This becomes chakra, however this doesn't necessarily need to be a balanced process. Yang chakra is chakra that is predominantly made of Physical energy, while Yin chakra is the polar opposite. Both contain only trace amounts of the other type. I can store Yang chakra in a seal over the course of months and years and then access it all at once temporarily giving me an incredible regenerative factor. You saw a small part of its power in my fight against Orochimaru."

His eyes went open wide. "You mean the thing you used to heal instantly and beat Orochimaru-teme into the ground? How can I use that?!"

"You couldn't." She said bluntly. "Unless you live for a few hundred years… an unlikely occurrence… you would never be able to attain the perfect chakra control needed for the technique I use. _However_ with use of Fuinjutsu, of which I am admittedly no master, I believe you could make excellent use of the principles of Yin and Yang chakra manipulation."

Naruto nodded, smirking at the thought of doing stuff even Tsunade couldn't do. "Okay… Thanks Tsunade."

"Yeah yeah, get going brat. I don't want to see you again until you look like your father and can beat this pervert's ass into the ground." She cocked a thumb back at the village. "I'll hold down the fort while you turn into the man your parents wanted you to be."

Hiruzen seemed about to comment again but Tsunade beat him to it. "And get a girlfriend would you. That way I can really rip into Shizune for being an old maid!"

The blond boy wilted. "I feel so used…"

Jiraiya huffed. "Come on brat. Let's get this show on the road. I'll be explaining the basics of Fuinjutsu on the way. We won't start training until we reach Musuki Village two days from now." Naruto shrugged and hefted his pack higher on his shoulders.

"Well, good luck Naruto-kun."

"Bye Jiji, Baa-chan!"

"Hey get back here and call me that again! I'll kick you into the middle of the next century!"

"HAHA! Let's go Pervy Sage!" Naruto shouted as he blasted down the path away from the enraged woman. Jiraiya could only follow, keeping ahead of his crush.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

 _ **-three days later-**_

Hiruzen groaned as he found himself sitting in his office across from the vast majority of the Hyuuga clan elder council and Hiashi Hyuuga… the head of the whole clan. The current topic could be nothing other than the sudden drugging and disappearance of Hinata Hyuuga, the clan heir. It had happened the same day Naruto left the village. The only thing that prevented him from assuming she left to follow the blond was the fact that the Hyuuga clan head Hiashi found him scarcely ten minutes after he returned to the tower… which likely meant she'd been out of the village for hours.

That kept him from drawing the conclusion that the girl was chasing her crush, but it left open lots of other avenues. For instance the mistreatment of the girl by her own clan. This was the second most likely reason for her sudden disappearance… And boy… did the Hyuuga hate it when you told them they were bad parents or teachers. As far as Hiashi and the elders were concerned they'd done nothing wrong.

As far as _he_ was concerned… that was _highly_ debatable. Naruto had always commented on how odd his fellow students acted when he was little. Most of the time his childish opinions were directed towards Sasuke, Sakura, or Choji (strictly based on how he could be a fat ninja) But there were enough times he'd asked about the 'weird' Hyuuga girl that he'd been curious enough to look into it.

Not that he hadn't already looked into the situation before… After all she was destined to be the next clan head.

So… he was left in the uncomfortable position of convincing a group of arrogant 'holier than thou' Hyuuga that yes… they did have sticks up their assess… and yes, they probably abused their clan heir to the point she simply ran away.

Hiruzen could only send out the tracking teams and pray, within the confines of his own mind of course, that Naruto and Jiraiya encountered the stray Hyuuga outside the village. He had to give her credit though. She'd taken full advantage of her clan's strictly structured lives. Most Hyuuga rose, ate, and went about their days at about the same times. Only the main family was permitted to do as they pleased, getting up when they wanted to and setting their own pace. And she'd dealt with all of them herself.

Unfortunately Because of her popularity with the branch clan she'd been in the perfect position to drug eighty percent of the Hyuuga within the village. The only Hyuuga who weren't affected were those on missions, in the ANBU, and the elders themselves. But the elders were in no position to do much more than complain like the crotchety old men they were.

Hiruzen glanced to where a small packet of grey powder was lying on his desk. It was the drug that Hinata had used on her clan.

Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata's Genin teammate, had identified it as a sedative that they gave to their ninja hounds. It was odorless, tasteless, dissolved instantly in water and couldn't be flushed out of the body with chakra. Supposedly the Inuzuka clan used it when their hounds required extensive medical treatment.

And about six pounds of it had gone missing the day before.

He didn't think she'd been planning this for a long time… The girl was smart. Timid, but smart. This was well thought out. However from what he knew of the girl now he seriously doubted that she'd started planning this for more than a week. Otherwise she would have stolen the sedative in small doses over time to avoid being caught.

Something had provoked her to leave when she did. True… he believed it was the mistreatment she suffered that was the overall cause, but what was the catalyst for the act. As he well knew… as everyone knew. Hinata was very shy and lacked self confidence. _Something_ must have given her the incentive to get over her fears and go through with this.

He just needed to figure out what that was now… then maybe his tracking teams could have a real chance of finding her.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Jiraiya yawned as he and his apprentice walked through a small village north of Konoha. It was morning and the cold air was crisp but invigorating, at least to Naruto. Jiraiya glanced to the side, taking note of Naruto's smirk.

The boy thought he had all the cards in his hands did he?

" _Shit."_

Well the brat did.

Jiraiya lowered his hand from his mouth as he glanced down the street, forcing his mind away from its usual course (complete perversion) and onto more pressing matters. So far the only instruction he given Naruto had to do with the principles of Fuinjutsu, which he apparently already knew a fair bit about… The kid had explained that he read a book on beginner's Fuinjutsu, which Jiraiya was grateful for.

So he'd made sure to fill in what holes Naruto had in the basics and asked how good his handwriting was. Surprisingly Naruto claimed to have very good handwriting. Sometime during academy he'd gotten it into his head that the reason he was failing in academy was because none of his teachers could read his handwriting… so he had excellent calligraphy. Jiraiya was thankful. That would make things a hell of a lot easier.

Other than that Naruto had a firm grasp on the theoretical basics. Now they just needed to find a place to sit down and do some Fuinjutsu. Since that's what he'd decided would be the first thing to teach Naruto.

The brat's schedule was looking like this

Fuinjutsu 2.) Ninjutsu 3.) Taijutsu 4.) Kenjutsu 5.) Genjutsu

It wasn't exactly a bad schedule actually. Those were almost exactly how his own specialties lined up so it wouldn't be too hard to work with. The real issue was what Hiruzen had told him about Naruto's affinities for Ninjutsu. Wind and Lightning… his fucking worst affinities. His skills were focused on Fire and Earth followed by Water and Lighting and _then_ Wind. So yeah… he'd have some issues with that. But if he was lucky he could use Naruto's Shadow clone prowess to speed things along.

Speaking of which, that would really help with Fuinjutsu. If he used clones to practice Fuinjutsu then he wouldn't have to worry about blowing himself up if he fudged up a seal.

Couldn't have the kid losing any fingers after all.

Jiraiya pondered what he was going to do about this. The boy he'd planned on taking with him on a three year training trip (he was hoping to squeeze an extra year out of this venture if he could) was no longer there. Instead there was a _much_ more mentally secure and observant young man. Sure he was only fourteen, but that didn't mean anything. Naruto could be at his father's level in five years.

Minato only had a small head start on his son and Naruto was a Jinchuriki. His father never had many problems, but one of them that he did have was chakra. The Namikaze clan was known for a having slightly below average reserves… and excellent control, but Naruto would never have an issue with needing more chakra. So… that made things much easier.

Plus Minato never used Shadow Clones for training. That alone could turn Naruto into a literal monster in no time at all. Jiraiya could already imagine it. Naruto, if what he'd seen of the boy so far panned out, could probably make a couple hundred Shadow clones by this point. If he then focused all his training on one thing… for example Wind chakra manipulation… Jiraiya did the math. " _Assuming Naruto made five hundred clones and trained for a full eight hours… That is… nearly six months of training in a day…"_

He stopped as the absurdity of this finally penetrated his brain. Naruto, the blond idiot who couldn't stop saying "believe it!" to save his life… could train for half a year in a single day.

That was _insane_.

As in _completely_ and utterly insane.

Jiraiya now understood the real reason why the Shadow clone jutsu was in the village's forbidden scroll. If anyone else learned that jutsu who had large enough chakra reserves, they could become massively strong in a very short amount of time. He honestly didn't know why Kakashi didn't use them to train… or even himself!

So… in other words, Naruto was going to be overpowered as fuck by the time three years passed. This wasn't a bad thing of course. It was a very very good thing. He just didn't know how he was going to cope with having a kid a fourth his age that could easily kick his ass. All in all it was a disturbing thought. Naruto might surpass him in a handful of years if he made proper use of his clones. _"Catching up with a Sanin in a few years… Dear Kami, what has been created here?"_

Jiraiya shivered a bit. He didn't really want to know. Instead he forced himself to pay attention to his surroundings once more. His body had been on autopilot for quite some time and he needed to make sure Naruto didn't get into trouble. From what he'd been told Naruto was a magnet for trouble of all kinds. He really didn't want to have to report to Hiruzen that a village was destroyed on their third day out.

It wouldn't look good on his resume.

He glanced around.

Sure enough, Naruto was nowhere in sight. Jiraiya cursed and turned a full circle, his eyes searching for that spiky blond hair. _"Thank Kami… He's right th… why… who is that?!"_ Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he watched Naruto and three clones helping a girl carrying groceries down the street in the opposite direction. It seemed as though the blond and the girl were chatting up a storm!

How dare he?! How dare the kid just run off to help a cute girl without telling him! Didn't he understand the teacher student dynamic at all?! Naruto was supposed to be the chick magnet for him. It wasn't right that he should just toddle off to help the first pretty young thing he saw and offer to help! He should have tapped him on the shoulder and given _him_ the chance to go in for the kill.

Jiraiya, filled with self righteous indignation, ran down the street towards Naruto and the young girl… already having forgotten about finding a place to practice Fuinjutsu. He caught up to them in a few steps, just as they turned into a shop. Naruto was laughing as he went.

" _Damn that gaki…"_

Adjusting his clothes and posture for maximum effect, Jiraiya made sure he was ready and then walked into the shop. Immediately he saw Naruto setting the groceries down on a table while the girl, a diminutive redhead wearing a tan sleeveless jacket, unloaded the bags.

He stopped and watched them for a moment, suddenly caught by the similarities to Minato and Kushina.

"Hey I never caught your name." The girl was asking.

"Oh… my name is Naruto Uzumaki."

She gasped. "No way… an Uzumaki?!"

"You bet, but I never knew my parents. My mom was from the clan, but dad wasn't."

"…I'm an Uzumaki though… How is it you're from the same clan? I thought Uzumaki were supposed to have red hair? See." She curled a lock of her hair as if showing him. "I'm Amaru Uzumaki."

Naruto shrugged. "My dad was blond. Got it from him."

"Cool… so do you have any family from the clan?"

"I… no…" He shook his head. "I'm an orphan and I lived alone my whole life."

"Me too." She bit her lip. "Hey, what do you say about coming with me and my sensei? I'm sure he would take you on. We could be like family." She saw his frown. "I mean if you don't have anything else to do…"

Naruto shook his head. "It's not that." He reached into the pouch at his side and pulled out his headband which he'd taken off before entering the village. "I'm a ninja of Konoha. I couldn't just go off for no reason. Besides I'm on a training trip with my sensei right now."

"A Shinobi!"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"I've always wanted to be a Shinobi! But sensei says that being a doctor is better because you help people without causing harm."

"I don't know about that." Naruto glanced at her somewhat curious. "Who is your sensei?"

"His name is Shinnou. He's one of the best civilian doctors in the elemental nations. At least that's what he says. I know he's really good at what he does, but I still have my doubts about whether Medical ninja are better at healing. Sensei can't help people who are too far gone. I heard that Tsunade of the Sanin can heal _anything…"_

Naruto's eyes widened. "Best civilian doctor? Like ever?"

"Well I don't know that!" She blushed a bit. "I.. he's not _that_ good… maybe. I don't know. I mean I'm kinda just tagging along. I don't even know why he took me with him. I asked him to make me a ninja since he used to be one…"

Naruto turned and started to help her unload the groceries and asked. "So let me guess, he got tired of the killing and wanted to help without getting involved in the fighting?"

"Yeah.. I think. How did you know?"

He grinned. "Well you might not believe me, but I've actually met Tsunade Senju. She'll be the new Hokage by now I think."

"Really? I didn't know that. W..wait!? How do _you_ know Tsunade Senju!?"

"Well I am her Godson. And I was with Jiraiya of the Sanin when he went to bring Tsunade back to the village. OH!" Naruto smirked, lifting up the crystal that Tsunade had given him. "She gave me this. It's a necklace that the First Hokage gave her when she was little."

Amaru leaned in, looking at it. " _Cool_ …."

"I know right?"

"So you really know Tsunade Senju and you've met Jiraiya of the Sanin too? How many of the Legendary Sanin do you know?" She seemed a bit in awe.

"Oh… I've met all three of them. I even fought with Orochimaru, but he kicked my ass." Naruto growled under his breath remembering the repulsive man. "Once I finish my training with Jiraiya though… then I am so going to be strong enough to kick his ass!"

She tilted her head then her jaw dropped. "Wait, Jiraiya is here?!"

Naruto nodded and cocked a finger over to the right. "Uh… yeah? I mean you didn't notice him standing in the door this whole time?"

Amaru's head whipped around so fast that both of them heard a loud pop. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates as she stared at him. The blond patted her on the shoulder. "Yep... that's him. Probably the strongest of the Sanin… And not the mention the most perverted. Not a week ago Granny Tsunade was beating the crap out of him for groping her…"

Jiraiya… who up until this point in Naruto's explanation had been posing dramatically… face vaulted.

"BRAT! I'll skin you for that!" Jiraiya shouted as he leapt up. He lunged across the space that separated them, grabbing Naruto by the collar. "This is the last straw boy! Stop trying to ruin my reputation! Do you know how hard it is to impress people once they hear that shit!?"

Naruto nodded. Of course he knew that. It was the main reason he said what he said… besides the fact that it was true.

"Arg!"

Amaru looked between them, looking paralyzed. "Y..you're Jiraiya of the Sanin..?"

Instantly Jiraiya whipped around bowing to her (angering Naruto in the process) as he attempted to kiss her hand.

All the blood abruptly was cut off from his _lower_ regions.

His face went red with anger and then pale as he felt the uncomfortable sensation spread. He gritted his teeth and hopped back, glaring at his student.

Naruto was looking right back with a defiant smirk. "Nice try Ero-Sennin."

"I'll get you back for that somehow. Just because the old man and you have that seal on me doesn't mean you have me under your thumb got it!?"

"…"

Jiraiya paled further. "Seriously though, could you stop that Naruto? I can't feel my privates when you keep doing that."

Naruto's benevolent smile could have been a death grimace for all the kindness it held. "Say you're sorry Ero-Sennin."

"Why?!"

"Because I said so."

"Grr…."

One blond eyebrow rose. "Was that an apology?"

"Fuck you gaki!"

"Hm… I don't think that Jiji will be happy when he hears that Icha-Icha will be put on permanent hold…" Oh well, sometimes you just got to do what you got to do."

"….It's starting to hurt now damn it! It's not funny anymore!"

"On the contrary sensei. I find this hilarious."

"Damn you and your increased vocabulary!"

"Is that even an insult?"

"GAUH!?"

Amaru backed away from them, her eyes still wide as the Sanin fell to his knees, clutching at his groin. She blinked rapidly at the blond boy who seemed to be causing _the_ Jiraiya unimaginable pain. Just who was this kid!? And… But no! She refused to think he was cute! (but honestly… what were those marks on his face?)

Naruto nudged Jiraiya with one foot. "Eh? Ero-Senin? Are you still alive? If you apologize I'll stop the seal."

" _ss..Sorry…."_

"I don't think Amaru-chan heard you."

"I said I'm sorry damn it! I'm a horrible perv! Now just stop crushing my balls already!"

Amaru saw Naruto step back as the Sanin abruptly let out a sigh of immense relief. The huge man's muscles uncoiled and he just lay there on the floor. Naruto kicked him again in the side.

"Hey… did you hear everything Ero-Sennin? Amaru here is an Uzumaki like me."

"..Just… just give me a second." Jiraiya grumbled as he forced himself slowly to his feet. His face was still damp with sweat. He wiped at his face with one sleeve and then straightened up, making himself at least somewhat presentable. Then, and only then, did he turn his attention to Amaru. His dark eyes fell on her, giving her a serious once over.

She was fairly short, looking about thirteen or so… maybe younger. Her red hair was longish, cut to shoulder length with bangs on either side of her face. Her eyes were a deep ocean blue while her skin was a deep tan. Jiraiya noted that she didn't have much muscle definition that he could see… probably a civilian.

His inspection done he reached out a hand for her to shake. "Jiraiya of the Sanin. Sorry about the scene. Me and my _student_ don't quite have the student/teacher relationship worked out yet."

She nodded and took the offered hand, shaking once before looked back to Naruto. "So… he is an Uzumaki?"

Jiraiya nodded. "He is, but unlike him you actually look like one. Or at least the hair and eyes match. Your skin tone is a bit dark for an Uzumaki, but he's the same way."

Naruto shrugged. "I got my looks from my dad."

"That you did. I just wish you could have as much respect for your elders as he did."

"You wish."

Jiraiya's eye twitched. "Yes… I _do_ wish." He turned back to Amaru. "So I heard you're traveling with Shinnou. I've heard of a traveling healer by that name although I've never met the man myself. I suppose you're acting as an apprentice of sorts."

"Not really…" She blushed a bit with embarrassment. "I don't really want to become a healer. I wanted to be a ninja. But I guess I sort of like being a healer. It feels good to help people."

"Yeah. I can agree with that. But Shinobi are the ones who solve the problems that healers like him deal with. He may help people without causing harm, but if everyone is a healer instead of a warrior then there's no one to stop problems before casualties happen." Jiraiya shrugged. "Anyway… I'm a bit skeptical of healers who don't use chakra of some kind. If you don't have medical Ninjutsu there are only so many wounds you can treat. Trust me. I've been injured enough to know."

Naruto nodded sagely. "Yep… I had the arteries around my heart severed by a chakra scalpel. Almost killed me, but Granny Tsunade healed me."

Amaru looked between them, her eyes a bit sad. "I know that. Maybe…" She frowned, seeming confused as to what to say or do next. "I… I think I need to find sensei." She turned and ran out of the door, disappearing from sight.

Naruto moved to go after her, not wanting to lose contact with a member of her clan so soon. But a second later she poked her head back in the shop. "If I… maybe we could meet at the village entrance Naruto… the day after tomorrow…?"

"Uh… sure."

"Okay!"

And then she was gone. He watched for a moment, until he felt a large hand fall on top of his head. He glanced back at Jiraiya. "What Ero-Sennin?"

"Let's go brat. You can see your girl friend later. For now I've lost interest in wasting time. We'll find a place to work on your Fuinjutsu and get down to work."

Naruto crossed his arms. "About time."

"Just follow me gaki."

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

"Please… oh _please_ tell me we aren't going to go through this shit again." Naruto groaned as he looked at the scroll in front of him with an aggrieved expression. "I've rewritten the same symbol six hundred times… and the other fifteen symbols more than a thousand times!" He pointed an accusing finger at Jiraiya. "And you won't even tell me what they're for!"

Standing off to the side Jiraiya was doing his own training, but that was pissing Naruto off even more. Jiraiya apparently decided that he needed to work on his chakra control… so he was busy trying to form a Rasengan on the tip of his finger!

It was completely unfair! How did he get to do that while he was stuck with writing the same freaking Kanji innumerable times!?

"Focus Naruto. There's a good reason for the repetition. Fuinjutsu isn't like Ninjutsu. If you fuck up a handseal the worst that can happen is literally nothing. If you get a single symbol wrong in a high level seal it could kill you. So you will continue to draw those symbols every single day in the morning until you can write five hundred of each one without getting a single inconsistency."

"The hell?!"

"That's right. And once you're able to do that then I'll have you making storage seals and minor explosive tags. And every morning you'll make ten of each. I'll inspect them and if they pass muster I'll teach you a new seal afterwards. If you use your shadow clones to their full effect you should be up to a decent level in Fuinjutsu in a few weeks."

Naruto stared at Jiraiya wide eyed. "Weeks?! How could it possibly take that long? You do realize how many clones I can make right?!"

"A lot. But you don't understand. I've spent the better part of thirty _years_ mastering Fuinjutsu. It's my own unique style learned from decades of refinement. You have no earthy idea how amazing it is to become competent with Fuinjutsu in a month. It took your father three whole years to get to the same level I expect you to reach in that time."

"I… I guess that isn't so bad." Naruto admitted.

"Tsk… not so bad he says. Learning Fuinjutsu on par with most talented ANBU in a _month_! HA!" Jiraiya shook his head, muttering about ungrateful brats.

Naruto for his part only glared at his sensei for about five minutes before going back to work.

And the next day Naruto found himself standing in the same forest clearing with Jiraiya. The previous day had been spent almost entirely on Fuinjutsu. Naruto hated it. Not the art it's self. That part was fascinating. But the way Jiraiya was teaching him was more than enough to put any normal person off wanting to master it.

Now? Today would be the first time Jiraiya addressed Ninjutsu.

"Okay brat. Show me all the Ninjutsu you know." Jiraiya gestured to the woods around him. "Hit this place with everything you've got."

Naruto didn't move. He just stood there staring at Jiraiya for the longest time. And then he said, "You've already seen all the jutsu I know. I can use Henge and Kimawari, the Shadow clone jutsu and the Rasengan. And that is literally everything I have."

Jiraiya looked horrified. "Really?! You suck!"

"Thanks for rubbing it in baka-sensei!"

The older man sighed and scratched his chin, watching Naruto fume. "Okay then. I have a lot of work to do if that's the case."

"It is."

"Fine! We'll get right down to it then. I want two hundred clones front and center!"

Naruto made the required handseal and a moment later the clearing was filled to the brim with orange clad teenagers. The original, somewhere in the center, asked. "This plenty?"

"Yeah… a little more than two hundred but it's fine. Now I want all of them to move into the forest east of us and start practicing the Rasengan. Since it's so hard to keep it going it will be an excellent way to get your chakra control down more. And maybe at the same time you'll learn how to do the Rasengan with one hand."

"Not a bad idea I guess…" Naruto nodded to his clones and they headed east into the forest. This left the two ninja alone in the clearing. They waited until the sounds of carnage and destruction started behind them… Then Jiraiya nodded to himself.

"Good, good. Now I want you to create about… four hundred clones, give or take. Once that is done have all of them grab a single leaf from one of these trees."

Naruto obeyed this order as well, his expression becoming a bit puzzled. A moment later the explosion of smoke heralded a good six hundred clones. They filled the entire clearing and a good portion of the forest on either side.

Jiraiya shook his head. "That was two hundred more than was necessary."

"I know… but it's hard to create so may accurately. Before now I was just making as many as I needed in the middle of battle. I let my instincts take over then." He shrugged. "Anyway…" He waited as his clones started to work on their small task. "…what is this for?"

"Simple Naruto. This will be how you master Wind release. Each of your clones will attempt to cut one leaf in half with their chakra alone."

"Oh… I completely forgot that they used this exercise still. The book I read had students doing this with pebbles. Is this like the really easy way then?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Yeah.. _easy…_ You tell me it's easy after you try ripping a rock in half with wind chakra. I'd like to see you try kid. When I first learned how to do this leaves were about all I could manage." He turned to his student, holding up a leaf of his own. "I mastered the first level of wind manipulation, but I never even started on the second level. But since your main element is wind you will eventually need to master even the third level."

"…And if this is the first level… what is the third?"

"Well, the second level is usually cutting a waterfall in half with chakra alone…"

"Bullshit."

Jiraiya shook his head. "No.. not bullshit. And stop cursing so much. Anyway the third level is called wind walking. It basically involves controlling the wind currents around you and amplifying them till they lift you up. I've personally never met anyone who truly mastered the third level. Wind users are rare enough. Even rarer are people who complete the third level."

"So… basically flying?"

"Pretty much."

"Cool. I'll be doing that by next year then… at minimum."

The Sanin looked down at Naruto with one raised eyebrow. "Really now? Look who's determined. Just don't get ahead of yourself. I don't need you dying because you tried to use an S-rank wind jutsu."

Naruto blinked up at Jiraiya. "I didn't know there were enough high level Wind users to even come up with S-rank wind jutsu. From what I've read of history only the previous Kazekages would have been capable of that and they mainly focused on their magnet style jutsu."

There was a moment of silence.

"Since when did you read again? I was never told when the blond idiot I knew went and turned into a knowledgably person who can recall odd facts that he shouldn't even know off the top of his head."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Since I figured out that Shadow Clones impart memories to me…" He answered icily. "Speaking of which I never thanked you for leaving that part out _sensei._ Aren't you supposed to teach your students something useful instead of ignoring something as crucial as that?"

"Have I mentioned that I hate your new and improved vocabulary? I liked you better when I wasn't talking to a mini-clone of your parents." Jiraiya grunted as Naruto's scowl became a smirk and the blond turned away from him, crossing his arms over his chest. Another few moments passed as each and every one of his clones had procured a leaf. Jiraiya quickly made a shadow clone of his own and had it join them.

"What now Ero-sensei?"

"Now? We're going to have some Taijutsu lessons. It's no good for you to have all the power being a Jinchuriki gives you if your body can't hack it."

"What about my clones?"

"They will practice for a few hours and then dispel themselves in groups of ten as not to knock you unconscious or cause brain damage. Once I see you start to look pale we'll stop the Taijutsu training and see how quickly you can cut a leaf in half yourself." Jiraiya grinned as Naruto groaned, perhaps realizing that the rest of his training regime was going to be just as tedious as what they did in Fuinjutsu.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Sometime later Naruto was lying on his back in the middle of a clearing feeling like he'd been beaten up by a member of the Sanin. Or… so okay, he _had_ been beaten up by a member of the Sanin. But at least he'd given Jiraiya a nice hard one in the groin before it ended. Not to mention his perverted sensei was still under the restricting influence of the accursed seal Hiruzen placed on him.

That was something at least. But on to other matters…

Naruto now knew without a shadow of a doubt why Jiraiya was called one of the Sanin. Because no matter what he tried he simply couldn't touch the guy. Not for nothing. Not for anything. Oh sure he managed to kick him in the balls, but that was a fucking lucky shot! The rest of the time he felt like he was sparring with a more brutal, more sadistic Kakashi, a Kakashi who took notes in order to make porn instead of reading actual porn.

Naruto supposed that he was lucky though. By the end of the day he'd come immeasurably far with his wind manipulation. So far the Jiraiya (grudgingly) admitted that Naruto was a prodigy with his main element.

He could now reliably cut a leaf in half… smoothly… in just over thirty seconds.

Jiraiya told him that once he could do that instantly… he'd be ready for level two. Naruto didn't even want to know how long it would take him to cut a pebble… Like.. damn! How insane had he been to think a pebble would be easy. That book he'd read about training a wind affinity must have been talking about people who had already mastered the second level of wind manipulation. Cause he sure as hell couldn't imagine cutting a stone in half in less than an hour… if that.

But onto a different topic. Jiraiya had informed him that his strength was high Chunin and his speed was low Chunin. Both of which were pretty good for his age. However he also told Naruto that his style sucked enough to make a whole whore house swear off blowjobs for life.

Basically Jiraiya spent four hours tearing his "style" apart like it wasn't even there to begin with.

It was a disheartening experience to be so good at one thing and then to realize just how much he lacked in another (arguably more important) area.

"Hey gaki."

Naruto opened his eyes, seeing a shadow fall over him. "Yeah what is it Ero-senin?"

"I hope you're feeling well because we've got trouble." Jiraiya stated bluntly.

That didn't sound good. Jiraiya's tone wasn't what it usually was… The normally jovial undertone had vanished, replaced by cold practicality. The blond blinked and sat up, feeling the soreness in his body slowly recede… compliments of a certain fuzzy asshole in his belly. "Wha.. what is it? Bandits? Ninja?"

"Nope. Come on… and be quiet." He ordered. "Two people are to our west. One of them is your girlfriend from yesteday. The other one is a man I recognize from my time in the last Great War."

Naruto was on his feet in an instant. If Amaru was there that meant that one of the last members of his clan was in danger… In essence his family was threatened. It gave him a whole new incentive not to screw up.

"Alright sensei. I'll do whatever needs done."

"Good. Follow me."

Naruto nodded and kept pace with Jiraiya as the larger man was suddenly streaking ahead, far faster than Naruto was accustomed to traveling. Fortunately he wasn't known as a stamina freak for nothing, and not a minute later his body had warmed up and he was coasting along at the same speed.

His thoughts turned to Amaru.

Seeing her had been pure chance. She had been walking out of an alley laden with groceries when he just happened to look to his left.

He'd instantly been spellbound… perhaps subconsciously… by her hair. The red wasn't deep or glossy. In truth it was actually rather dirty, but it was the color itself the drew attention from him. Red… the same color his mother had. The same color that all Uzumaki traditionally had.

Even if this thought hadn't been in the forefront of his mind he'd instantly been drawn to her. He didn't know why. If someone asked him in that moment why he stopped to talk to her (eventually offering to carry the groceries for her) then he would have shrugged and said he thought she was pretty. That wasn't all of it… and the fact that she was attractive would normally have discouraged him.

He'd always thought Sakura was pretty too, but since her normal response to his advances had been to punch him, he tended to stay away from the fairer sex as much as possible.

But Amaru was different. He could tell on an instinctual level. She'd suffered like he had. Not as much… but enough to understand his pain. Maybe he sensed it in the way she backed away from him at first. Or the reluctance she had to letting him carry her things for her. Perhaps it might have been the wary fear I her eyes when he smiled at her, expecting betrayal…

It didn't matter. He'd offered to help and struck up a conversation with her. And then… she told him her name and whatever subconscious suspicions or ponderings he had rushed to the forefront. She was an Uzumaki. She was… without a doubt… family. His family in a time and place where he thought there was none left.

Naruto growled as he kept pace with his sensei. Without his knowing his eyes were turning a deep bloody red.

Maybe it was the fact that he'd just lost Sasuke, his best friend turning to the path of revenge and darkness. It could have been his lack of a family to call his own from the start. Or maybe it was a little of both. But right now he wouldn't let _anything_ touch her. Pretty or not, nice or not, Kunoichi or not… he refused to let her get hurt.

Not when he'd just found her.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

Shinnou was scowling as he heard Amaru's sniffling from where she walked behind him. The village lay some miles at their backs now… and he was looking to increase that distance even more between now and nightfall. Hell, it might be a good idea to continue even in the dark. After all… Jiraiya of the Sanin was there. It had been absolute pure luck that the Sanin hadn't seen him on the street as he walked by.

That would have been bad. Like really… really bad.

All his plans minds as well have been shoved in a blender and diced to paste. Jiraiya of the Sanin… one of the last people he wanted to see again so soon. It was bad enough that Amaru had decided to run off into the village without telling him, presumably on the basis of getting supplies. But now he had to deal with a man who had almost single handedly destroyed the spy network he'd set up in the Elemental Nations!

It had been a complete ruination of his plans to bring the Land of Sky back to power with himself as its leader. Now the man was back getting ready to mess thing up again.

If only there was a way to kill that man! But no, his dark chakra engine wasn't ready. Amaru herself wasn't ready. And without her all his plans would fall into disarray. It would be at least another year before the psychological conditioning was strong enough to extract the creature from within her mind.

Until then he was only able to fight at Jonin level. And while this was still a Jonin of the Hidden Sky… a village that set its standards far above those of the Elemental Nations… he wasn't strong enough to fight a member of the Sanin. Especially not that particular member.

At least not without back up… and certainly not when he had to assure the safety of the whiny redheaded brat with him.

Perhaps the worst part was he needed to keep up the kindly healer routine, something he was no doubt good at. But it was a royal pain to be so goody goody when he just wanted to butcher her sometimes.

Indeed he found it hardest to play his self assigned roll when he was forced to do something that dear old Dr. Shinnou wouldn't normally do. For instance suddenly leaving the village where he'd been treating people with no good reason… and then dragging Amaru off into the forest in the late evening hours.

Again… unfortunately she wasn't sufficiently enamored of him as her sensei to make up just any random excuse. He would have to put thought into it. Something along the lines of… _"Well Amaru… just listen to your sensei. You see I finished treating the critically wounded here and I heard about a terrible accident up north. Some poor little boy is sick and it would me terrible for a healer such as I to leave him to suffer."_

Bah!

If only planning and setting up said plans were easy. He'd have conquered the Elemental Nations twenty years ago! But this was not the case. Subtlety was needed in all things now. And Amaru was an annoying large piece of the puzzle.

…Grr… if only Uzumaki were more common in this day and age. He could just rip the Zero tails out of her like pulling the head off a freshly caught fish and shove it into some unsuspecting Uzumaki brat. Someone who didn't have the same emotional baggage!

Behind him Shinnou caught the sound of labored breathing. He stopped and looked back, barely managing to keep the nice guy smile on his face. And there was Amaru. She was on the dirt path panting and exhausted.

Belatedly he realized he'd allowed his anger to get the best of him and he'd picked up the pace so much that she couldn't keep up. Damn it… he almost wished she was a Kunoichi. At least then she wouldn't set the slowest pace in the known world. Honestly the girl might have been a tomboy sometimes… but she was lacking in the famed Uzumaki stamina.

"S..sensei… can.. can we stop for a while.. I.. I can't keep up…"

Her voice came out in that stop start manner that reminded him so much of weak civilians. Dear gods how was he supposed to put up with this shit?

Oh right… he'd be taking over the world when all was said and done. Plus he'd have the best treat at the end. Once she was properly brainwashed to be his loyal student he would break the news to her, tell her what a useful _tool_ she had been all this time. Yes… that would do nicely.

He was even able to pull a kind smile out of nowhere thanks to this thought.

"Oh I'm sorry. I've been rushing along terribly fast. I was so focused on getting to the next village I wasn't thinking about you." Shinnou doubled back to where Amaru was still panting, her legs trembling a bit. Her soft eyes locked onto his… and then suddenly onto something behind him. Her face split in a happy grin.

"Jiraiya-sama! Naruto-kun!"

Shinnou whirled, fearing her words and worse, fearing the thought of dying today. If he died then the Land of Sky lost all connection to the Elemental nations and the ruins of their ancient flying city. If he was slain then there would be no one to rule… no one worthy anyway.

But even as he turned he heard the voice. That voice which had driven him from the village hours ago. The same self confident and arrogant voice that had told him his life was spared and to never come back to the Elemental Nations again.

"Amaru step away from that man. He's no healer."

Shinnou's eyes landed on them then. Two figures. One a man and the other a boy. He knew the face of Jiraiya of the Sanin already. So instead he turned his attention to the younger of the two. This one was short with spiky blond hair and tanned skin. He had a well muscled body for a kid his age Shinnou had to admit and the strangest marks upon either side of his face, jagged and black.

But it was the eyes that drew his attention the most. A blood curdling red with black slitted pupils. They flashed in the fading afternoon light, all but glowing. And there it was, the furious anger that dwelled within those eyes.

It was unmistakable. He'd seen this before… only once… but he would never forget it. The eyes of a demon, or more specifically in this case, the eyes of an enraged Jinchuriki. Shinnou also knew that any chance of him salvaging the situation had just been sent sailing out the proverbial window. Jiraiya he could escape from. He'd have to leave Amaru behind, but he could do it. But a Jinchuriki was another matter entirely.

Even the youngest of them could tear a Jonin limb from limb. He hadn't just heard of that either. He'd seen it first hand and been far too close to the act for comfort. That had originally been in the area around Kiri when he angered the host of the Rokubi. The little boy it was sealed inside was shy and submissive… but when angered he became something out of a nightmare.

"Well Hello Jiraiya. Long time no see."

"Benimaru…"

Shinnou's lips twisted into a hateful sneer. "I don't go by that name these days. Feel free to call me Shinnou."

The white haired man scowled and his eyes flicked to the side. "Amaru… get away from him. I don't know what he is to you, but I know him from the last war."

"Don't listen to them Amaru!" Shinnou growled, barely keeping the fury from his voice. "That man is a war criminal in the skin of a hero. He doe…"

But it was too late. Amaru was inching away from him, her blue eyes wide, her expression etched with betrayal. He knew that face. It was the same one she'd had when he first found her in that rat hole of a village she once called home. And it was a look that spelled doom for him. "Sh..Shinnou-sensei?"

Shinnou's face twisted into a snarl of fury. "Damn it! You stopped me once Jiraiya. I hope you're pleased with yourself!" He took a step back, preparing to run. "Mark my words, you may have me outmaneuvered this time but I'll be back another day!"

"You're not going anywhere…"

The good doctor froze as he felt steel at his throat. He hissed, "When did you make the Shadow clone?"

"Before we even caught up to you." Jiraiya muttered icily as he stood behind Shinnou with a kunai at his throat. "I know how you operate. Admittedly I never expected to see you again after the war ended, but it's a good thing I saw you when I did. This is the perfect convergence of events. Naruto met your apprentice earlier and had a happy little meeting. I'm sure she won't mind coming with us after your head is turned into the bounty office."

"Curse you… destroying my spy network wasn't enough?"

"Sorry to say but I didn't even know it was yours. I never found any connection to the Land of Sky. I actually thought I was destroying the Akatsuki's spy network at the time. Not that I feel bad about it now that I know. Thanks for the info."

Shinnou grimaced. "So you'll kill me."

"Of course… You tortured hundreds with your twisted experiments. I'm just returning the favor." Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "Don't worry. I'm not like you so I won't drag this out. Goodbye good doctor."

The man was about to speak again but cold steel bit deeply, opening a bloody smile across his throat. Jiraiya wiped his kunai clean and let the dying man drop to his knees. He then replaced his kunai at his belt and watched sternly as Shinnou wheezed out one last breath.

Then the body collapsed forward to the ground.

"S…s..sensei..?!"

Jiraiya quickly turned to the terrified redhead to his right. "Hey… calm down little one. I know this is sudden, but I couldn't do that slowly. Shinnou was a war criminal from the last war, wanted in every nation you care to name. You're lucky I knew him. No telling what he was planning for you." He shivered a bit at the implications. "He hasn't done anything to you since you've been traveling with him has he?"

She didn't answer. Her eyes flicked from the corpse of her one time sensei, the man who saved her life, offered her his hand in friendship, and even his knowledge in healing… And then back to Jiraiya… the man she knew only from stories of the last great war. A living legend who fought Hanzo the Salamander to a standstill with his two former teammates.

He was supposed to be a hero! But Shinnou had been a doctor! Wasn't he also a hero in a way?! Who was the bad one?!

Amaru didn't know what to do. She'd just barely started to put her trust in Shinnou and then he was _dead_ , right before her eyes. Could she trust his killer? Did she even believe what Jiraiya was saying?! What should she do?! Who was she supposed to trust?!

She had no one! No one who cared for her, no friends, no…family…

" _Naruto-kun…"_

Abruptly she remembered. She _did_ have family. There was one person who at the very least she could trust. Family didn't desert each other did they? They wouldn't couldn't leave you behind! Naruto would be there for her right?! He was an Uzumaki like her!

Frantic, Amaru snapped her head around, searching for the blond. And almost as soon as she saw him he was there.

"Amaru-cha.. ack!?"

Naruto choked as her spindly arms winched themselves tight around him, her face buried in his chest.

"N..Naruto-kun!"

"A..maru..chan… can't - _gasp-_ breathe!"

She squeezed tighter, fearing that he would try and pull away. "Please don't go!"

"I… w..won't. Just don't… suffocate me…!"

Jiraiya scowled for a moment then sighed. "Amaru, Naruto. Let's get going. I need to turn this bastard into the bounty station west of here and send a message to Tsunade. We can work everything out after."

The two teens turned to him. Naruto raised an eyebrow, looking down at the late Shinnou.

"Who was that guy? What did he want with Amaru-chan?"

Jiraiya motioned to the corpse. "An old enemy. He belonged to the village hidden in the Sky, a nation opposed to the entirety of the Elemental Nations. They were involved briefly in the Second Great Shinobi War. Then they had a very active role in the third. They were beaten however, causing them to retreat back across the sea to the east." He shrugged. "I have no idea what he wanted her for."

"Who is he though?"

"One of the leaders. Or at least he was towards the end. The Hidden Sky was reckless and fought the Elemental Nations on even terms. Of course luck wasn't with them and in the first major battle they faced off against Onoki the Tsuchikage. It was a massacre and it cost them their king, who was basically their Kage. Shinnou took over what remained of them after they were all but annihilated by Kumo."

"Ouch…" Naruto looked down at Amaru, still clutching tightly at him. "But I guess they got what was coming to them. Give me a sec and we can get going." The blond placed a hand on top of Amaru's head in an attempt to sooth her. "Don't worry Amaru-chan. Everything is gonna be okay now. You can stay with me and Ero-senin while we travel."

She nodded, still refusing to let go. "Okay…"

"Can you let go for a second? If you want I can carry you on my back…. If you're tired."

Amaru nodded again. "Okay.."

Jiraiya sighed. "Just pick her up Naruto. She's in shock. It might be a couple hours or a couple days before she comes around. Then it could be weeks before she get's over this. I'll carry her if you get tired."

Naruto shot his sensei a dirty look. "I don't think so perv. I'm not letting to grope the only family I have right now."

"Hey!? I wasn't going to brat!"

The blond huffed. "First time for everything I guess."

"Why you…."

Naruto ignored his sensei's self-righteous anger and picked Amaru up in a bridal carry, not bothering to try and get her on his back. Maybe later. Besides he was more than strong enough to carry her. She felt very light in his hands. Almost too light.

"Let's go Ero-senin," Naruto said as he started walking down the path.

Jiraiya's eye twitched madly but he didn't say anything else. He merely followed after his apprentice with a resigned expression. It seemed as though Kami had fated him to be the underdog for the next few years. _"But I am so going to get my revenge when this is over Naruto… I'll turn you into such a big pervert that girls far and wide will flock to you just to be part of your harem! And I will write about all of it! HAHAHAAA!"_

"Ero-senin… are you thinking about pervy stuff again."

"Brat."

"I thought so."

Jiraiya abruptly started to lose feeling in his nether regions.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

 **Ha! Get your humor while you can! After a few chapters things may get a little dark for a time! Anway I need to finish this up now so "hasta la vista mia amigos!" See you later my friends.**

 **And remember to review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm back with another chapter! Yay! Now I know what you're all going to say. BOO! You took ages to update! And this is true. In fact I had planned to update this even later as I was on a little 'break', lacking the inspiration to continue many of my stories.**

 **I had actually begun work on Incarnation before this. But while I was proofreading what I had for this chapter I managed to find my Muse and beat a few thousand words out of her before she escaped me again. Anyway, let's get down to brass tacks, or as they are sometimes called… reviews.**

 **doomqwer** **: I'm afraid I will not be including your suggestion. My story is already pretty set in stone as far as other crossover elements being involved.**

 **Madara123** **and** **naruto** **: This story will be massive and many girls will be added along the way, however neither Ino nor Honoka nor Hana will be in it. This is a multi-crossover story. I'm not adding excess girls from Naruto's world without excellent reason.**

 **KamiKageReyuuketsu:** **Actually I'm straight and you've been blocked. Good day.**

 **talon67:** **There will be lemons later on, but you'll have to wait a long time for anything more than fluff involving Hinata.**

 **hennessyswagg83** **: I wasn't sure exactly when Uzushio fell. But many events like that are a little unclear in the Naruto history line. As for my preferences… I'd just like to say one thing. It's my story. Sure I aim to please my readers for the most part however as you say my "personal preferences" are ruining the story. However this is** _ **my**_ **story…** _ **my**_ **rules. The** _ **entire story**_ **is my personal preference. I have no more to say on the matter.**

 **Paradoxity** **: That's great news! There's no need to be a hater. And yes…. Shinnou is undoubtedly a bad bad man… and a dead one!**

 **Guest** **: Amaru isn't a full blooded Uzumaki like Karin or a Jinchuriki like Naruto. Plus, while she may have far more stamina than a normal thirteen year old girl, she can't compare even to Sakura. Mainly because she was never taught how to use her chakra before now.**

 **JSua** **: Thanks for the compliment! And I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the last few.**

 **Newotouto** **: Yes the Third Hokage did survive. I've said this three times now.**

 **(I own nothing of Naruto or any of crossover anime, books, or movies that may be used)**

 **Master of All things - Part One - Broken Words**

 **Chapter 4 - Training and a Stalker**

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

" _What is he up to?"_

Jiraiya frowned as he watched Naruto reading his father's diary from the comfort of his sleeping bag. It had been three days since Amaru had joined their group and he'd already sent the letter telling about her to Tsunade and Hiruzen. Right now he was just waiting for a response in the nearest village. He figured that they'd be moving again soon.

However Amaru wasn't what he was thinking about.

For the last three days Naruto had been ignoring him. He had his nose buried in his father's diary whenever he had the slightest conceivable chance. And it was starting to worry him.

Minato hadn't been… a bad kid. On the contrary Minato had been one of the kindest and most generous boys Jiraiya ever knew. Admittedly _somewhat_ eccentric at times, but still a good kid and a better man. However there were one or two traits that Minato had possessed which scared Jiraiya. And these were nothing more or less than Minato's uncanny cleverness… and his almost insane recklessness.

Now, one might wonder why Jiraiya was thinking about Naruto's father like this if the only thing the boy was doing was reading a diary. Yet Jiraiya had a suspicion. A suspicion that there was more to that diary than met the eye. Reading a diary written by the Yondaime wasn't a problem. In fact it might do the kid some good knowing how his father thought and dealt with things in his time. But if there was more in that journal than he personally could see there might be problems.

Where did this stem from?

Jiraiya could tell you from personal experience Minato was… well just a little paranoid. Not a lot. A little. Just enough to make it damned hard to keep track of everything after he died. This came from growing up an orphan prodigy and having everyone and their second cousin trying to suck up to you. And Jiraiya wouldn't have put it passed Minato to use a diary as a secret Fuinjutsu notebook… or even worse… a reference book.

This in and of its self wasn't bad either. But in Naruto's hands it could very well be a disaster.

In the time since the boy's first Fuinjutsu lesson Jiraiya knew he was a master in the making. The all but inborn ability to create perfect Kanji, his refusal to have his calligraphy be anything but perfect. It was astonishing. For him to see it firsthand just how easy it was for the boy was amazing. It seemed that the Uzumaki talent for Fuinjutsu, combined with the Namikaze perfectionism, and topped off with Naruto's own determination to get stronger would make him a master in no time.

In a year the boy would be so far ahead of him that it would scare him. And with Shadow clones helping him? Well there might not be a force on this world that could stop Naruto from becoming the most skilled Fuinjutsu user alive. So to break it down… four things scared Jiraiya about the situation.

First… Naruto was in possession of a diary owned by Minato Namikaze.

Second… he suspected by Naruto's interest in the book that there might be some of Minato's Fuinjutsu notes within it.

Third… Naruto was a natural, a prodigy of the highest order when it came to Fuinjutsu.

Forth… He was an Uzumaki and a Namikaze. Genius from one side. Cunning from the other… and reckless curiosity from both.

If there were notes or Kami-sama forbid, actual complete formulas, hidden within that diary which only a Namikaze would see. And assuming that Naruto was already competent enough to understand the basics of sealing arrays, also taking into account the undeniable fact that Naruto didn't have the self restrain _not_ to use one of his father's seals… Well Jiraiya didn't want to even think about what could happen.

Of course he could just take the diary, but then Naruto would be pissed at him. It was the only physical link he had to his father! And if he asked what was inside, well he sincerely doubted Naruto would tell him the truth at this point. The boy didn't trust him all that much. More than likely Naruto would use the Sandaime's seal on him the moment he started getting pushy about it.

Worse still Jiraiya knew Minato was a huge fan of blood seals. Damn things were hard to crack even for a master of the art. Infuriating as they were useful. Meaning that only a Namikaze could use, or sometimes even see, his work. If he took the book in Naruto's sleep he might not see anything Minato hadn't wanted prospective thieves to see.

And all of this meant he might be in serious trouble. He needed to find a way to see if that diary was what he thought it might be. And once he did that he needed to find a way to get Naruto to show him what was inside without the boy using any of it.

It wasn't as if he personally needed Minato's seals for himself. He was his own man when it came to Fuinjutsu! Furthermore their styles were very different from each other. But he didn't want Naruto to look at sealing formulas he didn't fully understand. And he sure as hell didn't want the boy to start studying or (again Kami forbid) using seals of Minato's caliber.

That would be like handing a fresh Genin an SS-rank Kinjutsu. Not that Naruto didn't already have a Kinjutsu. The Shadow Clone jutsu was considered to be a minor Kinjutsu.

" _Damn it… I knew the moment I heard him tell me what it was that there might be trouble. I don't know why Kakashi let him have it! Oh… wait, of course. Kakashi was Minato's student, not the other way around. He wouldn't have known how much Minato safeguarded his work. Which means that Kakashi let him have the diary probably thinking that's exactly what it was!"_

Jiraiya silently cursed. Once Naruto had something he was like a bloody hound. He just wouldn't let go of it. Like a rabid wolf the kid would latch onto something and never let go. _"Great trait when it comes to training and fighting, but not so great when the time comes to make things easy for me. No… Naruto isn't going to take any chances with me. He might have partially forgiven me for what I've done… but he still isn't likely to trust me with any hidden information he finds."_

It sure as hell wasn't the best situation.

" _But what choice do I have? If I'm right, and there's no reason for me to suspect I'm not, then the boy could easily be looking at a master level sealing formula even now! What can I do to make sure he's safe then?"_

The old Toad sage grimaced inwardly. _"Not much I can do. As long as he doesn't trust me enough to tell me his secrets my only recourse is to make sure he's prepared for anything he finds. Ha! I guess that's kind of my job as sensei regardless!"_ Jiraiya's expression changed into a challenging smirk. _"Well, no slacking then. I need to change up the schedule. It will take too long to adjust myself to his specialties. If I'm going to make him stronger I need to teach him what I know now and adapt to his strengths and weaknesses later."_

…

Sitting across the campsite from his sensei Naruto felt a shiver run up his spine. His eyes rose from the complex sealing array displayed on the diary's crisp pages to settle on his godfather. His eyes narrowed. He had a sudden and quite unsettling feeling that his sensei was planning something.

Oh how right he was…

 **Ooo**

 **-The next day-**

 **Ooo**

"I'm going to fucking _murder_ you Ero-senin…"

Jiraiya grunted. "Well that's nice. At least we know one thing for sure. You're good with Fire release jutsu. I never suspected that. Must be that minor fire affinity that Hiruzen mentioned. Sure as hell didn't seem small to me."

Naruto stopped and stared at his sensei. His jacket was blackened with soot and his hair was more the color of Kakashi's, being grey instead of silver. "Sensei… you hit me with a FREAKING FIREBALL!"

"No I didn't. That was a D-rank technique. If I'd hit you with a fireball of that size you'd be a smoking pile of ash."

"You still hit me with it. Do you know how unpleasant it is for skin to grow back?"

Jiraiya glanced back at his student. "Listen Naruto. I _have_ been hit with a real fireball. And yeah, I _do_ know what it feels like to grow skin back. Except the time I'm thinking of I lost most of the skin on my back… I unlike you didn't have the Kyuubi to patch me up."

"I still want to pull your arms off and beat you to death with them." Naruto muttered angrily.

"Yeah, stop complaining. I'm sure your new girlfriend will rub ointment on you if you ask her." Jiraiya shook his head. _"Honestly, what is he expecting? It's Fire! You can't learn how to appreciate it or use it without being on the receiving end a couple times. Sure as shit that's how I learned. Gamabunta lighting me on fire just for the heck of it was the way I was taught. You got it easy Naruto!"_

Naruto growled. "Why do I get the feeling that you're dising me sensei?"

"Because you have excellent instincts my precious godson."

"You set me on fire."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "You're back to that again? Jeeze. Toughen up some. What happened to the kid who trained for a whole week with almost no rest, mastered a powerful Ninjutsu known to only a handful of people, and then fought a Jonin level medic nin?"

"HALF my hair is GONE!"

"Oh… _that's_ what's got you pissed off." Jiraiya shrugged. "I created a jutsu to deal with that decades ago. Why do you think my hair is the way it is? In my line of work it gets burned, cut, and melted off on a weekly basis sometimes. You've seen the weaponized version of my hair growth jutsu already."

The half blond teen gave him a venomous look. "You're teaching me that jutsu… now."

"Come one. Let's get back into camp and get some food into you fir…"

"NOW!"

"Oh sheesh! Fine, I'll give you the damned jutsu! Don't get your panties in a knot!"

Ten minutes later Jiraiya had successfully taught Naruto the jutsu he'd first invented to regrow his hair. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you looked at it, the boy had horrible chakra control. So he couldn't siphon off a small enough quantity to grow it back to its usual length. Jiraiya personally thought the boy looked even more like his father than usual now. The long spiky bangs hanging in his eyes and on either side of his face.

Naruto muttered dejectedly. "It's still not the same…"

"Oh, stop whining gaki. What's the issue? Your hair is a bit longer. If it bothers you that much have your girlfriend cut it."

He grimaced and pulled his fingers through his hair.

"Look at the bright side. You look just like your father did at your age."

Naruto suddenly seemed to brighten, though he attempted to hide it. "It's fine. Just try not to burn it all off next time."

"I'll do my best." Jiraiya grinned as they walked back into camp. "Get something to eat and then we'll be going right back out. I'm going to teach you some minor Doton jutsu. Useful stuff even if it's not your element."

Naruto seemed slightly perplexed. "Not working on fire again?"

"No need." He bent down and grabbed a canteen of water from the side of the dead campfire. "Katon Jutsu have three main components you need to be good at them. The first is excellent circulation of chakra inside your body. And because you're an Uzumaki you're chakra coils are constantly in overdrive."

"I don't need good chakra control?"

"Of course not. Think of every Katon jutsu you've ever seen. How many hand seals did the most powerful one have?"

"Uh…" Naruto had to think about that for a moment. He didn't know all that many times where he'd seen more than five hand seals. Actually… the biggest Katon jutsu he'd ever seen was from Shikamaru's sensei. But that was only like eight seals. "I think it was that the longest sequence I've ever seen was that ash cloud thing that Asuma-sensei uses."

Jiraiya glanced back at him. "That's not even a true Katon jutsu. That jutsu uses elements of Futon manipulation, something that Asuma is particularly good at since he has a dual affinity for Fire and Wind."

"Really?"

"Yep. Now personally, the longest sequence of seals I've ever seen or heard of for a Katon jutsu was sixteen. And that was an SS-rank jutsu if I remember correctly. So no, good chakra control was never something that was required."

Naruto huffed and walked over to his small tent, ducking into it for his lunch. Then he was back out again, just in time for Amaru to poke her head out of the spare tent Jiraiya had provided for them.

"Hey… Naruto-kun… Wha? What happened to your hair!?"

He shrugged. "Sensei burnt it off with a Katon jutsu but he taught me a jutsu to grow it back."

She blinked. "Oh…"

"It's alright." Naruto turned back to Jiraiya. "So what else do you need for Katon jutsu?!"

Jiraiya was already taking a long draft from his canteen. After a second he lowered it and belched. Amaru wrinkled her nose and tossed a rock at Jiraiya's head. The stone whizzed by him, missing his face by inches. The old toad Sage was unfazed by this attack and continued explaining as if nothing had happened. "Well… two things after that. The next most important thing would have to be good lungs. Almost all Katon jutsu require you to take in a huge breath, imbue it with chakra, and then breathe out in a variety of ways. So breathing exercises and breath control is extremely important for fire users."

"And…? What's the last part?"

"Simple. Chakra. Katon jutsu are the second most chakra intensive jutsu that a ninja will use. There's a reason why Genin are rarely taught elemental jutsu in academy. However… out of all the elements only Katon and Raiton jutsu are strictly forbidden in academy curriculum. Mainly because they take so much chakra, most academy students would kill themselves trying to use them."

Naruto frowned. "Sasuke used a C-rank Katon jutsu during our bell test with Kakashi-sensei. And he was just out of academy like everyone else. Plus he was still able to fight after."

"Meh, Uchiha don't count. The whole clan is known for being almost absurdly skilled with Katon jutsu… and unlike the Hyūga the Uchiha clan is famous for having larger than normal chakra reserves. As far as fire is concerned, being an Uchiha is cheating."

"I bet Sasuke wouldn't like to hear that."

"Of course he wouldn't." Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Uchiha are also second only to the Hyūga when it comes to the sticks they have up their asses. At least he Hyūga know how to be polite. Most of the Uchiha clan I knew, before Itachi wiped them out that is, were jerks."

Naruto sighed. "Why do I find that really easy to believe? Actually, you know what… forget it. I don't even want to think about Sasuke's clan right now. He's the last person I want to think about. So back to Katon jutsu. Why not show me some of those breathing exercises?"

"I will… later. You can do those without wasting daylight. While we have light we are going to train things that are easier during the day." Jiraiya dropped is canteen back by the ashes of the fire. "As I said. I'll teach you some Doton jutsu. It won't be easy for you to use them since it's polar opposite to your affinities, but a good Doton jutsu can save your life."

The blond nodded. "I know that." He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Can I ask something though?"

"What?"

"When are you going to show me how to use sealless jutsu? I mean Jiji said that my Futon affinity is huge and you just said that chakra control isn't really needed for Katon. Why not show me how to do these techniques without seals?"

Jiraiya grunted. "I could… but even with the Kage Bunshin you'll need three or four weeks to get Katon jutsu down to that level. But…" He paused as if reconsidering it. Then he nodded. "You know what? Sealless Katon jutsu would be a huge addition to your arsenal. Fine… Doton later. You'll try to master the first level of Katon manipulation."

"Awesome!"

"Yeah yeah, don't get too excited. Mastering Katon jutsu isn't always enjoyable."

Naruto grinned. "I'll master it if it's the last thing I do!"

"Fine. Eat and we'll get to it."

Naruto hurriedly started to dig into his lunch, invigorated by the thought of using Katon without hand seals. Amaru smiled a little at his enthusiasm and ducked back into her tent. She would be here when he got back. Maybe he'd show her a little bit of what he'd learned when he did. She'd enjoy that. Jiraiya wasn't teaching her anything yet, spending his time on Naruto. But she'd wait…

It might take a while longer for her to get over Shinnou's death, but the idea of spending the next few years with Naruto and becoming a Kunoichi seemed more and more appealing every day.

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

The next morning Naruto woke before dawn and carefully exited his sleeping bag, being careful not to wake Amaru in the tent next to his. He looked around, eyes falling on Jiraiya's tent. Sure enough all seemed in the clear. A feral grin lit his face like a firecracker and he made a few hand seals, channeling his chakra. And at the same time he whispered under his breath.

"Fuin…"

Instantly the seals that he'd etched into his palms flared to life. Naruto started to run through dozens of hand seals, finally finishing on the snake seal. And in a shimmering wave he vanished from sight, leaving only his chuckling to track his movements as he headed off into the forest. He flitted through the trees, keeping an ear out for anything out of the normal sound of the night.

There were none. Naruto's eyes burned with excitement as his feet took him deep into the woods away from camp. After a minute or so he was sure that Jiraiya couldn't sense anything and felt safe to kick his speed up a few notches.

He flew through the forest canopy for a further ten minutes until he was quite a distance from camp. Then when he was absolutely certain he was far enough away Naruto found a small clearing. It was only about fifteen feet across but it was more than he needed. He sighed and held up his hands, making a new seal and muttered under his breath again.

"Kai.."

Abruptly he was visible again, the shimmering field around him dissipating.

He grinned again. _"Good… now that I'm far away from camp I can get started."_ Naruto held up his hand and pricked his palm with a kunai, which he then threw into the ground at his feet. Then he smeared blood over his right forearm, making sure he caught all three of the storage seals he'd placed there. These seals were very different from the ones Jiraiya had shown him how to make. The formula for them came straight out of his father's journal.

They were called Shelving seals… Basically they were larger versions of the usual storage seals, able to hold about five hundred pounds of gear in a space about eight by ten by six. However that wasn't what was so special about them. Unlike the standard seals most ninja used, Shelving seals allowed for far more rapid storage and removal. And additionally you could tag items to summon them instantly… much like if you had a seal that contained only a single item.

He had six of these seals on himself currently. Three on each forearm. On his left arm he had all his Shinobi gear and weapons. While the right held everything he possessed which was related to Fuinjutsu… including supplies, notes, and his father's journal.

Naruto licked his lips which had become dry. He hurriedly channeled his chakra through the seals on his arm and summoned everything he needed. It appeared in a huge plume of smoke in front of him on the ground.

He moved fast then, getting everything prepared.

First he picked up the small fold up table Jiraiya had given him. He set it up in front of him, quickly placing his brushes, ink, and parchment on its smooth surface. After that he whipped out his father's journal, flipping it to a page near the back. He activated the seal he found on the corner of that page and smiled when a second book popped into existence.

This book he handled with extreme care, knowing how valuable its contents were. Seals… but not just that. This book contained Fuinjutsu formulas, complete ones with footnotes on every step in making them. This… was pure gold for any Fuinjutsu user.

Naruto opened it with a ginger motion, careful not to ruffle the pages as he flipped to the tenth page. There he stopped and pulled out two small clamps. He placed the clamp over the corners of the page, keeping it open for him to work off of.

Next Naruto opened his ink well and dipped in his smallest brush. Then he leaned down over the parchment, doing his best to apply the ink evenly and in the correct pattern despite the lack of light. It took him three tries, but eventually he succeeded. Once that was accomplished he pushed chakra into the small seal, whispering the activation word under his breath once again.

Instantly the seal glowed brightly, giving off light just like that of the noonday sun. Naruto squinted and picked up the seal and one of his kunai. The quickly wrapped the parchment around the kunai handle and threw it into a tree branch which was above his head, the result being that the clearing was filled with light.

Thus able to see what he was doing properly Naruto set to work on his primary objective. He pulled out a larger piece of parchment, two hourglasses filled with sand, and a small jar of dark red ink that had come from a storage seal in his father's journal. It was time to get to work.

Naruto's brush dipped into the red ink and then slowly spread over the parchment. Each stroke was careful, deliberate, and perfect. He wasted no movement and made absolutely sure that his seal work was flawless. As the son of the Yondaime he felt it was an honor to use his Fuinjutsu formulas… and as such he refused to fudge even a single kanji.

Minutes passed as he continued to work on the seal. Ten minutes turned into a thirty… and then an hour. Naruto didn't even know when he would finish the seal. All he knew was that his strokes were perfect and controlled, without any deviation from the diagram his father's journal showed him.

Yet… sometime later he did finish. He blinked as he realized he'd completed the last stroke. Then his scowl of concentration turned into a grin.

He'd done it… perfect.

All that work with his clones making sure his calligraphy was perfect had officially paid off. And he wasn't just talking about when he was being supervised by Jiraiya. He'd left behind entire platoons of clones at old camps to practice until they simply ran out of chakra. Thus far he hadn't the faintest idea how many hours of practice he'd truly accumulated.

But it didn't matter now. He needed to make sure this seal worked.

Taking one of the hourglasses he walked to the other side of the clearing. There he flipped it over so that the sand started to fall into the bottom. Afterwards he returned to where he'd been sitting and repeated the process with the second hourglass.

He took a deep breath… and released it. Now was the moment of truth.

Naruto closed his eyes and started to gather chakra. He'd need a lot for this seal to work according to his father's notes. Approximately six Jonin reserves worth at least. He waited a moment until he felt he'd gathered half again as much as that… and then placed his palm over the seal and let it go.

It glowed dimly and Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

His eyes flicked to the hourglass beside him… and then to the hourglass outside the ten food radius the seal had created.

He smiled and rubbed his hands together evilly.

It had worked.

 **Ooo**

 **A week and a half later**

 **Ooo**

"Hey! Watch it gaki!"

Jiraiya shouted and leapt back as an explosive kunai detonated about an inch from his face. Damn it the kid was getting just a little too good with those. _"Gokakyu no jutsu!"_ He cursed and let himself fall flat on his back, avoiding a huge fireball which would have burnt him to a cinder otherwise.

He grunted, rolling onto his back and then springing to his feet. His hands slammed together as he raised an earth wall. It was just in time too because a second later several smaller explosions impacted the opposite side of the earthen fortification. The flare of fire that lit its edges showed him without a doubt just how much chakra had been put into that last attack.

A long sigh escaped Jiraiya and he backpedaled. Today was an important day. This was the first time Naruto was using entirely sealless jutsu. And to put it rather simply… his performance was fantastic. By using a combination of Fuinjutsu and sealless Katon jutsu Naruto was keeping him on his toes the entire time. Granted the blond teen was wasting massive amounts of chakra and explosive tags, but still… keeping a Sanin on the defensive was something else at his age.

Granted by the time Minato was fourteen he was killing seasoned Jonin… but that was beside the point.

"Take this old man!"

Jiraiya jerked his head up wards as Naruto vaulted over his earth wall.

" _Shit."_

Naruto put a hand to his mouth, drawing in a huge breath and releasing it as a stream of incandescent golden flame. Like a waterfall the fire poured down on him burning through the oxygen in the air around him instantly, making it impossible to breathe.

Jiraiya made a single hand seal and disappeared underground as Naruto's attack burst upon the earth, burning everything in range to ash. A second later he landed amid the flames, looking around for his elusive sensei.

He didn't have long to wait. Jiraiya burst from the charred earth behind him, launching a jab for the base of his neck. Naruto whirled, deflecting the strike with his left arm. He gritted his teeth as his arm went numb from the force of Jiraiya's attack. Then…. he gave a roar and lashed out with his right hand. The older Shinobi recoiled as a small jet of fire burst from Naruto's fist to set his vest aflame.

"The hell?!" Jiraiya shouted. "What was that!?"

Naruto grinned and punched out again, this time purposely channeling Katon chakra through his arm and out of his clenched fish. His sensei let out a howl like a wounded dog as bright orange flames burst from Naruto's fist like a geyser at point blank range, setting the rest of him on fire.

Leaping back from his student Jiraiya frantically tried to put himself out. It took a minute or so but eventually he succeeded, his hands burnt red and his usually crisp outfit was a charred husk of its former self, but he wasn't on fire anymore.

Jiraiya gave Naruto a withering stare. "Okay gaki… Answers! What the fuck was that?"

Naruto's grin widened. "Oh… just a little trick I figured out just now."

"A little trick? You set me on fire!"

"So? Big deal. I call it getting even."

Jiraiya gave him an irritated glare.

"Hey? Where's my congratulations sensei? I thought it was pretty cool!"

"How did you even do it?!"

Naruto took a few steps back from his extra crispy sensei and patted his bicep proudly. "I just thought about it a day or so ago. I was thinking about how Neji was able to release chakra from every part of his body at the same time. But he said that normal Shinobi could do it in small bursts or from a concentrated area like the fingers."

Jiraiya, looking a little less angry and a little more curious now, moved over to him. "You mean… you're trying to apply Gentle fist concepts to Katon jutsu?"

"Well, just think about it." Naruto threw a punch and channeled as much chakra as he could into his hand, releasing it at the last second. There was a small gust of displaced air, but nothing more. "I'm not a Hyūga. I can't focus my chakra really well once it's outside my body. And I can't release chakra from every tenketsu in my body at the same time either."

"But you can release chakra from a select few tenketsu at the same time…"

"Yep!" He threw another punch, this time expelling chakra just as a Hyūga would. Instead of a small gust of wind there was a blue pulse of chakra that dispersed about eight feet from him. "The thing is I have way more chakra than any Hyūga… and if I convert the chakra in my punch to Katon chakra at the last second…

Jiraiya watched as he threw the punch one more time…

Bright orange flames burst from his tightly closed fist like a miniature flame thrower.

"So…" Jiraiya started. "…if I'm understanding this you channel chakra into the tenketsu in your hand."

Naruto nodded.

"Then you throw a punch and expel it, changing it into Katon chakra at the instant of release to prevent yourself from being burned."

"Pretty much."

"Good Kami kid! How do you come up with this stuff?!"

The blond rolled his eyes. "Last time I checked the Hyūga don't have a patent on how chakra is used. It's just that most ninja probably don't know how the Gentle fist works. I have two close friends who are both Hyūga. Plus…" He chuckled nervously. "There was this one time where Hinata explained to me how her fighting style works. It was during a mission with team 8."

"I get the feeling she wasn't supposed to do that."

Naruto nodded again. "You're probably right. Hinata would be in big trouble if her clan found out she was sharing secrets with anyone who wasn't a Hyuuga."

"You should thank her when we get back. If you take the time you could create an entire Taijutsu style around this. Of course Jinchuriki would be the only ones capable of using it. Seeing how much chakra it requires to channel Katon chakra constantly. But… that's beside the point."

"Hey, it's not my fault that my awesomeness is eclipsed only by my inventiveness!"

Jiraiya dead-panned. "My my… How modest you are. Anyway, your new discovery aside we should probably get back to training."

"Right!"

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

This was good…

Oh so good…

Naruto almost burst into a fit of chuckles, but held them back for fear of dispelling the incredible image before his eyes.

This would be perfect for his plans. _Beyond perfect_. This was what he'd been looking for down to a T. And what was more? It also fulfilled several of his other needs simultaneously! First and foremost it would grant him the time he needed to study his father's work without interruption. Second, yet just as important it was simple to use, which was a huge plus. The other seal he'd been using for the last two weeks required was too much time to set up.

And third; the best part if he did say so himself… it came with everything he needed already prepared.

Not even to mention the fact that it was reusable. He could activate it, deactivate it, and redo the process all over again. The only cost was chakra. Of course that was something he had in spades. Jiraiya would never notice if he'd used up a Kage's worth of chakra before training, simply because his body would give out long before he ran out. Well, unless he was creating massive amounts of clones and or summoning the Boss toad repeatedly.

In that case even the Biju sealed in his gut wouldn't be able to keep it up forever. Yet… this was all beside the point.

The seal listed inside his father's formula notebook had many names… most of which were pretty terrible. As it turned out his dad was _horrible_ at naming his jutsu. Even his Hiraishin jutsu was named by his mom… if the neat feminine script in the middle of his father's cramps notes was anything to go by.

 _Instant Workshop_

That was the final name, the one that hadn't been crossed out below all the others. And… well that was quite accurate to say the least. The seal, when supplied enough chakra, would summon a massive Fuinjutsu laboratory to wherever you happened to be at the time. He had to assume that it was usually stashed underneath the Namikaze estate or something because it was _gigantic._

Twenty feet of work tables stacked with parchment, inks in every color, and brushes in sizes so small he could probably create seals on the back of a Ryo coin. There were swing down magnifying glasses that could go all the way up to twelve times magnification. On one side of the long table was what appeared to be a crucible for crafting specialized inks… something he'd only seen in pictures of when going through the books back in Konoha.

There was all of this and more!

How much more?

Well, how about a temporal distortion seal around the whole setup allowing him to create _huge_ complex seals in minutes instead of hours! His dad had gone all out on this!

Naruto grinned and rubbed his hands together. He was glad he'd tried this seal out far away from camp when Jiraiya was asleep. If his sensei found out about this he'd definitely try curtail his training. The old man would probably have some idiotic idea about "making sure he didn't get ahead of himself". Tsk! He had no intentions of limiting himself simply because his sensei was uncomfortable with how quickly he was progressing!

"Let's get to work…"

His grin widened even further and he stepped forward into the bubble surrounding the workshop. It was time to kick things up a notch.

 **Ooo**

 **-Two days later-**

 **Ooo**

"MUAH!"

Naruto yawned as consciousness returned to him for the second time in a row while he stayed within his little bubble of distorted time. He smacked his lips and rubbed at his eyes before pushing himself into a standing position.

Immediately his eyes were drawn to the side where a large hourglass was positioned to record the difference in time.

" _Wow… so far the time difference is pretty huge. One day in here is slightly less than an hour out there. Dad really must have put his heart and soul into this time/space manipulation stuff. No wonder Ero-senin never figured out how to use Hiraishin despite having the formula."_

He chuckled ever as he forced the last vestiges of sleep from his brain. He needed to get back to work and finish the seal he'd been working on. Already he'd exhausted himself twice. If it required much more time to get this done he was going to start wondering how his father ever completed it. After all while his old man was a master at Fuinjutsu… he only had so much chakra.

Unless…

Yeah that made more sense. His mom probably helped him with it. She had all the chakra he'd ever need.

Naruto swiveled on his heel and meandered over to the center of the table where a large scroll was laid out. This was what he'd need to master Fuinjutsu the way he really wanted to. A way to be in two places at once without the unfortunate side effects of the Kage Bunshin jutsu.

" _Even Kage Bunshin has its limitations. The strongest Kage Bunshin I can create will still dispel after one good hit… which means hard training and experimentation is out of the question. Not only that but clones have a limited amount of chakra, especially when I make more than twenty. So using them to study Fuinjutsu for long periods of time is also out. Even then… my longest lasting clones only last five days at maximum. They don't have enough chakra for anything more."_

Grabbing his brush and ink Naruto prepared to begin working on the seal again, his thoughts running over his reasons for making it in the first place yet again.

" _I can't work on Fuinjutsu the way I want to… and physically train the way I need at the same time. And since clones don't impart anything physical I have to be the one to do the hard training myself. That means I need some way to progress in Fuinjutsu while I'm busy taking care of the Tsijutsu and Ninjutsu training."_

He smirked as he dipped the brush in ink and started where he'd left off before.

" _This is the answer to that problem. While I'm off training with Ero-senin I can have a clone here studying Fuinjutsu… a clone that doesn't have all the weaknesses of a Kage Bunshin. Plus this'll get the perv of my back. With me giving everything to his training schedule he won't have any reason to suspect I'm doing my own training behind his back… much less that I'm working on Kage level Fuinjutsu. Hehe…"_

Naruto finished a line of kanji and channeled chakra through the ink to connect it to the rest of the seal. Then he started on the next line.

" _I'm almost done… Then I'll just slap this on a Kage Bunshin and Bam! The perfect clone. One that will regenerate chakra, can't be dispelled like normal, and can still impart memories to me. All I have to do is be have skin contact and all the memories it stores will transfer to me. Beat that Dad! The Uzumaki ultimate training style! True multitasking bitches!"_

He chuckled…

…and smudged the kanji he'd just started.

His hand froze as his eyes fell on the imperfect kanji… the only out of place symbol out of thousands.

Now he'd have to start over.

" _FUUCCKK!"_

 **Ooo**

 **-One month later-**

 **Ooo**

"So… Ero-Senin… This is the second stage of Katon manipulation? Seems just a little… I don't know. Ridiculous?!"

Jiraiya grinned and patted his student on the head. "Oh don't be so dramatic. You should see the second level of Futon. This is nothing."

"Boiling a lake dry isn't nothing!"

"Please… You've got more chakra than I do and I've already mastered this step myself. It'll be a piece of cake once you're into it."

Naruto growled low in his throat as he looked out over the large body of water. It was the work of a couple hours. Jiraiya had summoned Gamabunta and ordered the giant toad to carve out a huge bowl in the earth. Then he'd dug a channel from a nearby river, allowing the water to flood in and fill the newly made depression. Thus… a tiny artificial lake. Or if you wanted to be technical a very large pond.

And he was supposed to submerge himself at its bottom and boil it dry with nothing more than a steady stream of Katon chakra. Supposedly this test served two purposes. First and foremost it would teach him how to channel large amounts of Katon chakra without handseals, something that was usually impossible without this training. And second, the part that made the exercise so hard, was that holding your breath for long periods of time helped expand lung capacity.

This would test anyone's limits... his more than most since he wasn't even an adult yet. His body wasn't meant to take this kind of pressure.

"Well? You going to get started?" Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Better get a move on. We aren't moving camp until this lake is bone dry."

Naruto's scowl remained firmly in place as he considered the task ahead of him. _"It's not that deep. Should only take thirty seconds to swim to the bottom or return to the surface. But that's a full minute right there. I know I can hold my breath almost four minutes... but the human body only adapts to this kind of training so quickly. I'll have less than three minute increments to complete this... Fuck. This is going to take forever!"_

"Ero-Senin?"

"Yeah?"

Naruto craned his head up to look at his teacher. "How long did it take you to do this?"

Konoha's spy master let out a bark of laughter and turned on his heel, heading back to their camp. "Gaki... I'm not a Jinchuriki. And I certainly never trained with Kage Bunshin."

"And?"

"It took me seven months to complete this stage of my training. For you? I'd say two or three weeks." Jiraiya gave him a wave and laughed again. "Come get me when you're finished!"

Naruto stood there at the lake's edge, watching Jiraiya walk away... wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

 _"This blows."_

 **ooo**

 **-One week later-**

 **ooo**

"Um... Jiraiya-sama... Why hasn't Naruto-kun come back to camp yet?"

"I told you. He's training. Now get back to those pushups! While he's busy I'm getting you into shape! I swear that Uzumaki stamina has got to be hidden in there somewhere!"

Amaru swallowed hard and went back to work. She kept a mental count as she continued with the workout Jiraiya had assigned her. _"43...44...45...46...4..7..."_

"Come on! No girly pushups! You want to be a ninja or not?!"

"I do!" She growled out something like a war cry and forced her burning muscles to lift her weight.

"Then get those knees off the ground. Keep your back straight... and don't let those mosquito bites you call tits touch the ground when you drop down!"

 _"I... I'm finally understanding why Naruto-kun doesn't like him much..."_ She shook her head and squeezed out two more pushups, bringing her count to fifty. Then she collapsed, her breath leaving her in a gasp. _"Too... too much. Arms... hurt."_

"Good... good. We're finished with endurance training for now. Let's see some Ninjutsu. Suiton jutsu on one... two... three!"

Amaru groaned into the dirt and forced her hands under herself. Then, awkwardly, she pushed herself to her knees. Then to her feet. She didn't bother glancing back at her sensei. Instead she set her eyes forward, doing her best not to let her wobbly legs fold. _"Great... I can barely lift my arms. How am I supposed to do decent hand seals?"_

"I'm _waiting..."_

 _"Oh... shut... up."_ Amaru shook herself and willed her limbs into action. Her hands came together and she slowly ran through the twelve hand seals needed for the jutsu Jiraiya had taught her five days before. She called up her chakra and...

...collapsed in a boneless heap.

"Okay. So maybe I worked you a little too much. No hard feelings right? All in the interest of getting stronger?"

Amaru would have told him to go jump off a cliff, but she was having a hard enough time staying awake. About the only thing she could do was release an irritated moan. This however was ignored by the so called 'Great Toad Sage'.

"So come on. Get up. I'll make something to eat."

She gave a non-committal grunt and sent an urgent message to her arms to get a move on. About a minute later they sent a reply back. _"Fuck you."_ So with a heavy heart she continued to lay there in the dirt, catching her breath.

Jiraiya's sigh was painfully loud. "I _suppose_ you need help getting up."

Amaru contemplated which would be easier. Stripping naked to take the old pervert off guard... then stabbing him to death. Or convincing Naruto that he'd taken advantage of her... then letting him do it. _"Both have their merits... urg... I feel like I got run over by a wagon. Is this what it's like for Naruto after he finishes training for the day? His muscles must be made of rubber and steel."_

"Well?"

She released a sigh of her own and managed to nod.

 _"This is humiliating..."_

 **ooo**

 **ooo**

Elsewhere Naruto was having troubles of his own. And they had nothing to do with boiling a fucking lake dry. No... His troubles stemmed from something else entirely.

 _"Okay. So let's break this down one more time. Three interlocking rings. The base ring is supposed to be the anchor so it needs to be done first. However in order to link in the second ring it needs to be done at the same time. That however can only be done using a clone. However I can't use a clone since the second seal is designed to absorb chakra. Therefore the moment the clone finishes it will get absorbed into the seal. That will cause the partially finished anchor seal to activate. I can't let that happen though. It needs to be finished at the exact same time as the second ring. But damn it! How do I do that?! The second ring has to be finished second but the first ring won't link to the second unless they're done at the same time!"_

A low groan of frustration escaped Naruto as he continued to stare at his father's diagram. He knew what his problem was. His dad had a helper. Simply put, his mother was there to do the second ring. But he lacked any outside help. Amaru wasn't competent with Fuinjutsu and he sure as hell couldn't turn to Jiraiya.

What did that leave though?

His clones were basically a shell of chakra. The seal would just absorb that energy before he could finish it. And yet he needed an extra pair of hands to do this!

 _"Let's see. I could add in a fourth ring. Maybe put it between the first and second to prevent them from activating each other at first. That might help. But the issue is the third ring then. It has to lay over the first ring. All three rings have an odd number of kanji. They keep each other balanced. But the seal, to prevent the first and second activating, has an even number of Kanji. I couldn't put the third ring over it then..."_

This, if Naruto were being honest with himself, was why he needed a helper. There was only so much he could do on his own. Yet who did he have? No one. He had no one he could trust with this. Amaru might be willing to go behind Jiraiya's back, but she lacked skill in Fuinjutsu. And Jiraiya? Ha! Not a chance. Yet besides them there wasn't any other options!

 _"I could suggest teaching Fuinjutsu to Amaru. Then I'd just have to wait until she was up to scratch with drawing Kanji. I wouldn't need her to know the principles behind the seal..."_ Although there was a problem with that. Amaru wasn't him. She didn't have the drive to improve herself like he did. No matter how much she claimed it were so... she wouldn't push herself to the brink every day unless someone was watching over her shoulder.

 _"But how long would it take for her to get competent? That's the real question."_

Too long he imagined. Unless it turned out she had the Uzumaki aptitude for Fuinjutsu. Although if he were to be honest, this seal wasn't absolutely necessary for a while. He _could_ afford to wait a while before he finished it. The issue was something else. _"Who knew that Hiraishin was so damned complicated. I mean I knew it had to be a tier above most seals, but this is ridiculous."_

From his father's notes he knew his mother had first gotten him interested in Fuinjutsu. Because most of his father's earliest seals had a definite Uzumaki leaning. Jiraiya's influence only came in later as his father began experimenting with mixing styles. What made the Hiraishin so damned difficult was the combination of several rare subtypes of sealing. He could see Jiraiya's style in there. Mostly in how the various rings were angled. And the Uzumaki portion was obvious with all the seals being perfect overlapping circles.

Yet there were at least three other elements to the matrix that he didn't recognize. Not at all. The Hiraishin seal was beyond anything else his father had created... at least that he'd seen so far. It wouldn't surprise him if his father had taken a few tips from other villages, just to make sure no one was capable of copying his blend of styles. It was a good idea either way.

Now if he could just figure out how to do this seal without anyone helping him! It would be perfect! Not even fifteen with the Hiraishin at his disposal! Heh... see if anyone messed with him then!

 _"I've got to figure this out first though. And even when I do finish the damn thing, then I have to figure out how to condense the equation enough to fit on a kunai... Or a shuriken. Even then that's only the first level of the seal. Once I have the seal on kunai, then I have to figure out how to imprint the seal on anything I touch... and get it to disappear within a certain time limit so it can't be copied by enemy ninja. fuck... how my old man had enough time in the day to be Hokage and have a wife is beyond me."_

A chuckle escaped him. _"Of course. Kage Bunshin. What else? Dad must have used them at least as much as me."_

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin as someone shouted his name. The expansive seal he'd been working on disappeared in a flash and a plume of smoke. Then he whipped around, trying to look causal despite the two massive tables laden with Fuinjutsu equipment. "This uh... isn't what it looks like!?"

"Naruto-kun?"

He stared, dumbfounded by the sight that greeted him. For standing before him wasn't Amaru or Jiraiya. Not even one of his sensei's toad summons come to search him out. No. It was a very battered, very worn looking...

"...Hinata?"

The Hyuuga heiress stumbled towards him, nearly falling the last few steps into his. "Naruto-kun, I.. f..found you..."

Gears started grinding in his head as he tried to process why _Hinata_ of all people would be out here in the middle of nowhere, looking for him. The first thing that came to mind was that something horrible had happened back home. And Hinata was the only one who managed to escape. Then common sense caught up to him. If something that bad had taken place... the shy Hyuuga heiress wouldn't be here speaking to him. It would have been someone like Kakashi-sensei.

The next idea was that she'd run away from home and she didn't have anyone else to turn to. But that too made little sense. After the Chunin exam he thought things with the Hyuuga were improving. Seeing how Neji and Hinata's father were on speaking terms now. She shouldn't have had a reason to run away. Much less to him!

The last thing that made any real sense was... but no. That didn't really click either. Hinata didn't have any real connection to him outside of ninja stuff. So why the hell was she here?!

"Uh... Hinata-chan? Why are you here? Did something happen back home?"

Hinata looked up at him, her pale lavender eyes watering. "I..I'm sorry. I just. You were leaving for so long." She sniffed and tried to stand. "I.. I know you don't... but..."

"Hinata." Crap, he wasn't ready to deal with crying girls! Orochimaru's book was very informative on the subject but this was beyond him! "Please! Just calm down alright. What's going on?"

With obvious effort Hinata stopped herself from crying. Her sniffles diminished into nothing,, but her face remained quite red and smudged with dirt. "S..sorry."

"Just stop apologizing okay? I'm not mad. Just tell me what's going on ya know?" He helped her stand, realized just how bad she looked. It seemed as though Hinata had been running for weeks. Though if she'd been following them since day one that would be true enough. "Is anything wrong back in Konoha? Or did you..." He trailed off as she shook her head. "So nothing bad happened?"

Another shake.

"Okay. So you just followed me to..." He trailed off, his mind attempting to connect the dots. "To what? Just to follow me?"

Hinata nodded. "Uh huh."

Naruto let out a low whistle and pulled a hand through his hair, nonplused. _"So to recap. I've been out with Ero-sennin and Amaru for a while now. And Hinata has followed me out of the village for some reason that_ _doesn't_ _have anything to do with the village? What is she thinking?"_ He grimaced and found a chair for Hinata to sit in before he got one for himself. Once they were both seated he began again. "Now let's get this straight."

Her eyes immediately glued themselves to her feet, refusing to rise.

"I left the village with Jiraiya and you followed me?"

"Y..yes."

"And who did you tell you were coming?" He really hoped she told _someone._ Because if she hadn't then the village was probably panicking. The heiress to the most prestigious clan in Konoha disappearing without warning? Panic would be an understatement. Hinata didn't say a word for a long moment and he let out a long sigh. "You didn't tell anyone."

"No..."

Naruto groaned. "You do realize the whole village is going to be looking for you right? Neji and your dad are probably worried sick too." He saw the tears threatening to fall again and instantly went on damage control. "I promise I'm not angry! I'm just saying you should have told someone..." He paused. "...though I don't think you could have gotten out if anyone knew."

"I didn't tell a..anyone, but I l..left a note for my father." Hinata shifted in her seat and clasped her hands. "I just didn't want to... I mean I..."

"Hinata." He shifted in his seat as he tried in vain to find a way to say it without hurting her feelings. "You really need to go back. I'm on a three _year_ trip. Two if we're quick. Plus I don't think Ero-senin would want you coming with us."

"B..but you can't go!" Naruto recoiled even as Hinata practically threw herself at upon him. "I just found you! Y..you can't leave! I.. I... I won't go back! You c..can't make me!"

Naruto didn't know how to respond to this. Orochimaru's book had covered stalkers, but not this kind! How would Jiraiya react? How would anyone?! He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to do in this situation? Did he tell her to go back on her own or would he and Jiraiya escort her back? And how was he going to get her to calm down in the first place?! She was crying her eyes out and he hadn't the faintest idea how to stop it!

"Hinata! Please, just stop crying alright!

She continued to cry despite his pleading. Fat tears building in her eyes and trailing down her cheeks in miniature rivers. Naruto wracked his mind for something he could do, but in the end he came up with nothing. So throwing caution to the wind he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook.. hard. "Hinata! Stop it! I promise I won't make you go back alright! I promise!" There, it was out. He'd given his word. If she didn't stop balling now he was going to have a heart attack.

...Hinata paused

And looked up. "You..." She sniffed loud enough to alert a sleeping Jiraiya half a forest away. "...promise?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I promise. But you gotta promise too. No more crying got it. This is a crying free zone." He let go a shaky breath and let of her shoulders, leaning back in his chair. "Jeeze, I don't know how to deal with this."

"N..Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked around, as if just now noticing the massive tables covered in obscure fuinjutsu. "What's this?"

"Don't worry about that." Naruto, dragged her attention back to him. "Right now we need to figure out what you're going to do. I won't make you go back but..." He puffed out his cheeks, letting the air hiss out of him like a balloon. "I really don't know how this is gonna work. Ero-senin is already hard to keep in the dark. Plus if you suddenly show up he'll send you packing first chance he gets."

"I.. I could stay hidden."

Her offer was almost comical. "Hinata... Jiraiya is a Sanin. You've have to be at least a day away at all times or he'd be sure you sense you following us."

"Then..." She trailed off for a long moment, her eyes drifting around the clearing as though she might find an answer amidst the trees. Eventually her eyes landed on the tables of Fuinjutsu again. "..maybe you could seal my chakra?"

The way she said it struck a chord in him. "Seal your chakra? Hinata? You know about Fuinjutsu?"

Her lavender eyes locked on his for the briefest of moments before they dropped to her feet. "W..well, I mean. A little. All H..Hyuuga are required to know... some. Father m..made me practice with Hanabi-chan and Neji-san." Naruto was gawking at her openly now and Hinata caught his look. "I..I'm not th..at good!" She waved her hands around wildly, her face burning red with embarrassment. "I..."

"Hinata."

She stopped abruptly. "Y...yes?"

"You can do Fuinjutsu."

It wasn't a question, though she answered regardless. "I can.."

A broad grin nearly split his face in two. "Hinata... how good is your calligraphy?"

 **Ooo**

 **Ooo**

 **And there you have it my dear readers. The first update in many a month! I hope you like it cause I agonized over the ending to this chapter like a little kid in a candy store who has just one dollar to spend...**

 **And! Becuase I'm such a swell guy I've decided to list a few of the definite crossover elements I'll be including in the story. Keep in mind they might not play a major part or even have more than a chapter dedicated to them. But these are 'for sure'. Also! Please remember there might not be any pairings with girls in these anime/manga/books/etc...!**

 **Attack on Titan / D.C. comics / Starwars / Code Geass / To Love Ru / My Hero Academia**


	5. importan notice

Important message.

Hello everybody. No, I'm not dropping this story. I've already said as much to others following it. I will however warn everyone that there will be a delay with this an all my other stories. My computer was recently hacked and the bastards did a damn good job. All of my data files have been encrypted and they're demanding payment in the form of coin.

Can you imagine?

Anyway… I'm in college and I can't afford to pay the _ridiculous_ ransom they're demanding to decrypt my files. Seriously… like thirty dollars per file and I have thousands! Fuck!?

I've tried to get my work decrypted but no such luck so far. I was forced to rely on the data I had in storage. Unfortunately I only do a full backup of all my files and programs once a month or so. So I lost all the progress I've made on several stories.

It will take some times to rewrite those chapters and get them posted. I hope that my readers understand this delay is the last thing I want… especially with all the time and work I'm basically being told is lost. Thank you for following my stories and I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks.


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